Vehicle Camera System

ABSTRACT

A vehicle camera system and method for operating a vehicle camera system comprising a vehicle camera with communication capabilities. The vehicle camera operating in conjunction with other components to provide information to users. The vehicle camera system compiles information from multiple components into a single repository of video recordings with information, such as location information, vehicle status and diagnostic information, alert information and other information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The current application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/809,850, entitled “Vehicle Camera System” and filed on Nov. 10, 2017.U.S. application Ser. No. 15/809,850 is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/853,818, entitled “Vehicle Camera System” andfiled on Sep. 14, 2015. The current application is also related toInternational Application No. PCT/US16/50796, which claims priority toU.S. application Ser. No. 14/853,818. U.S. application Ser. No.14/853,818 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.13/840,496, entitled “Mobile Communication System and Method forAnalyzing Alerts Associated with Vehicular Travel” and filed on Mar. 15,2013. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/840,496 claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/518,167, entitled “Radar Detector ThatInterfaces with a Mobile Communication Device” and filed on Aug. 9,2012, which claims the benefit of priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/289,278, entitled “Radar Detector That Interfaceswith a Mobile Communication Device” and filed on Dec. 22, 2009. U.S.application Ser. No. 13/840,496 also claims priority to U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/514,232, entitled “Analyzing Data from Networked RadarDetectors” and filed on Aug. 9, 2012, which claims the benefit ofpriority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/267,172, entitled“Analyzing Data from Networked Radar Detectors” and filed on Dec. 7,2009. The preceding applications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to the field of vehicle cameraequipment and systems. The disclosure further relates to systemsinterfacing with a vehicle camera apparatus with mobile communicationdevices and other devices. The disclosure also relates to the exchange,coordination, communication and use of information among the vehiclecamera and mobile communication device system.

BACKGROUND

Cameras have been incorporated in various locations within vehicles. Forexample, cameras may be incorporated in a vehicle design to aid indriving (e.g., backup cameras). For another example, cameras may bemounted in a vehicle to record areas around the vehicle (e.g., dashcams). Videos may be saved in the limited memory in the dash camerauntil downloaded from the dash cameras to a connected computer oranother video is saved over the earlier video recording. Dash camerasmay record video and in some embodiments display the recorded video orthe currently recording video feed. Some dash cameras may record audiowith the video feed.

Vehicle systems exist which interface an electromagnetic signal detectorwith a mobile communication device to improve alert and warning systems.These systems also connect the radar detector and/or mobile phone toremote servers to improve prediction analysis for the potential alert.For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,970,422 titled “Radar Detector thatInterfaces with a Mobile Communication Device” and U.S. Pat. No.8,842,004 titled “Analyzing Data from Networked Radar Detectors” teachsuch vehicle systems. U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2013/0214939 titled “Mobile Communication System and Method forAnalyzing Alerts Associated with Vehicular Travel” also discloses such avehicle system which is also operable to facilitate recorded andbroadcast communication using the mobile communication device. Thedisclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,970,422 and 8,842,004 and U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2013/0214939 are incorporated herein byreference.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure teaches a vehicle camera that interfaces withanother device to provide a vehicle camera system. The vehicle camerasystem coordinates various capabilities of each component to improve theexperience and information available within the vehicle and to a largercommunity.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a vehicle camera systemincluding a vehicle camera wirelessly communicating with a mobilecommunication device to exchange data. In some embodiments, the data isprovided from the mobile communication device to the vehicle camera. Inother embodiments, the data is provided from the camera to the mobilecommunication device. Some embodiments exchange data between the vehiclecamera and the mobile communication device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure allow components to be designedfor specific purposes without incorporating redundant components withinthe system. For example, the vehicle camera may receive position datafrom a mobile phone containing a GPS component instead of incorporatinga redundant GPS component in the vehicle camera. Accordingly,embodiments of the vehicle camera without the redundant components mayfacilitate smaller sizes and lower manufacturing costs.

Embodiments of the disclosure may also include additional data sourcesand/or destinations. For example, an electromagnetic signal detectorwithin the vehicle may send an alert to the vehicle camera. Thiscommunication may be directly sent to the vehicle camera and/orindirectly sent to the vehicle camera through a mobile communicationdevice.

Vehicle camera system embodiments may also exchange data with remotecomponents, such as a server. Communication between the vehicle cameraand the server may occur indirectly using the separate and independentcommunication capabilities of the mobile communication device. In someembodiments, the server may provide alert predictions, video overlays,camera control instructions and/or other information to the vehiclecamera system which may control the vehicle camera operations. In someembodiments, the server may facilitate indirect communication betweenvehicle camera system components. For example, a radar detector withcellular communication capability may send signal detection data to aserver operating as part of the cloud and the vehicle camera may receivethe signal detection data from the cloud through a wide-area Wi-Ficommunication component.

Video collection and retention features of some embodiments of thevehicle camera may be modified based upon data and/or instructionsreceived from other components in the vehicle camera system. Inaddition, saved videos may be wirelessly transmitted to separatecomponents in the vehicle camera system to maintain a maximum storagespace within the vehicle camera. Moving the video storage off thevehicle camera may also facilitate the use of smaller memory elementswithin the vehicle camera.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera may embed additional informationin video recordings and/or correlate additional data with a videorecording into a single file for transmission and/or playback. Theadditional information and/or data may be provided from other componentsin the vehicle camera system. In some embodiments, the video istransmitted to other devices for post-processing of a video recording toembed additional data.

In some embodiments, the video recording may be electronically analyzed.The additional analysis may occur within another component of thevehicle camera system. For example, the video may be transmitted to aserver for further analysis. In some embodiments, the server may usevideo recognition software to identify elements recorded within thevideo feed. The analysis may be correlated with additional data. Forexample, additional data may indicate that an electromagnetic signal wasdetected during the video recording and the analysis may determine alikely source of the electromagnetic signal. In some embodiments, theserver may determine a prediction of an alert based upon the videoanalysis.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera system may use one or moreevents identified by another component to automatically trigger certainoperations within the vehicle camera. In some embodiments, certainevents may operate to override a user's default control setting. Forexample, a user may set the vehicle camera microphone to an off defaultsetting; however, an emergency event trigger causes the vehicle camerato turn the microphone on to record audio during the event.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, withreferences to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a vehicle camera system of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a system ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a vehicle camera display of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the present disclosure showing a vehiclecamera display showing an embodiment of an alert screen.

FIG. 6 is an embodiment of the present disclosure showing a vehiclecamera display showing an embodiment of an alert icon.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the present disclosure showing a vehiclecamera depicting a reminder and interfacing with a smart phone depictinga map.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of the present disclosure showing a vehiclecamera depicting a video feed and interfacing with a smart phonedepicting the video feed and a user interface.

FIG. 9 is an embodiment of a smart phone depicting a user interfacescreen.

FIG. 10 is an embodiment of a tablet depicting an embodiment of arecording playback screen of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a process of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 12 is another flowchart depicting an embodiment of a process of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there willherein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the inventionwith the understanding that the present disclosure is to be consideredas an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is notintended to limit the broad aspects of the invention to the embodimentsillustrated. It will be understood that the invention may be embodied inother specific forms without departing from the spirit or centralcharacteristics thereof. The present embodiments, therefore, are to beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and theinvention is not to be limited to the details given herein.

FIG. 1 depicts vehicle camera system 100 comprising interactivecomponents which may be located within and/or attached to a vehicle,such as a car, truck, motorcycle, ATV, boat, bicycle and/or othervehicle. In this embodiment, the vehicle camera system 100 includes avehicle camera 102, a mobile communication device 104 and anelectromagnetic signal detector 106. The vehicle camera 102 is shown asa dash camera in this embodiment. The vehicle camera 102 may include anycamera designed for use in and/or mounted to a vehicle. For example, thevehicle camera 102 may be a dash camera, a camera mounted in the vehiclebody (e.g. a backup camera), a camera attached to the rear window oranother camera mounted in the vehicle to view one or more people in thevehicle. As one skilled in the art will recognize, the vehicle camerasystem 100 may include any number of the vehicle cameras 102, mobilecommunication devices 104 and electromagnetic signal detectors 106 andshould not be limited to the illustrative example provided in FIG. 1.

The vehicle camera 102 shown may be attached to a mount within thevehicle using connection 110. For example, a mount may be adhered to thefront windshield of a vehicle and attached to connection 110 to hang thevehicle camera 102 from the dash of a vehicle. In some embodiments, theconnection 110 may be designed to connect to a mount for the rearviewmirror in a vehicle. Although the connection 110 shows a threaded femaleconnection in this embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognizethat the connection 110 may be any type of connection to hold the camerato a mounting component. Alternatively, the connection 110 may comprisethe mounting component and directly connect to the vehicle. For example,the connection 110 may comprise a suction cup array designed to hold thevehicle camera 102 adjacent to the windshield. In some embodiments, thevehicle camera 102 may be integrated into a rearview mirror and/or otherdevice, such as a navigation unit, a dashboard decoration or otherdevice.

In some embodiments, the mounting component may incorporate a movementelement to rotate and/or tilt the vehicle camera 102 such that the focalpoint of the vehicle camera 102 may be changed. In some embodiments, themovement element may allow a user to manually adjust focal point of thevehicle camera 102. In some embodiments, the movement element may beelectromechanical wherein user controls and separate computerinstructions drive the movement element to change the focal point of thevehicle camera 102.

The vehicle camera 102 may also include zoom features to modify theimage in some embodiments. The zoom features may include a digital zoomfeature and/or a mechanical zoom feature. In some embodiments, the zoomfeature may be used to adjust the view of vehicle camera 102 such thatthe recorded image does not include the dash and/or hood of the vehicle.For example, the vehicle camera 102 may zoom in on the horizon to asufficient point that the dash and/or hood of the vehicle is not in theimage. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 may incorporateadditional and/or alternative features to adjust the view of vehiclecamera 102 such that recorded image does not include the dash and/orhood of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle camera 102 may include afeature to adjust the viewing frame within the user setting options. Theuser interface of the vehicle camera 102 and/or another component in thevehicle camera system 100 may show the default view of vehicle camera102 and adjustable frame lines defining the operable frame of the imagesrecorded by the vehicle camera 102. The user may adjust the frame linesto eliminate unwanted items from the images, such as the vehicle dashand hood, an upper edge of the windshield and/or other items.

In some embodiments, a component within the vehicle camera system 100and/or a remotely connected component may remove unwanted items duringpost-processing of the recording. For example, the mobile communicationdevice 104 may apply frame adjustments to a video recording that issaved based on a user input selection, a video lock trigger and/oranother selection or trigger event. For another example, the vehiclecamera 102 may use optical recognition to identify portions of the videothat appear stationary, such as the vehicle dash and hood, and removethe stationary items from the recording.

The operation of the vehicle camera 102 to record video is consistentwith a conventional camera operation. The video camera 102 receives animage on a lens 112 and converts the image on the lens 112 into arecording. The video is recorded on a memory component in the vehiclecamera 102. The elements of the vehicle camera 102 used to capture theimage as a still picture and/or a video are referred to herein as theimaging component of the vehicle camera 102.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 may include a removablememory component, such as a memory card 114. The vehicle camera 102 mayinclude internal memory components and removable memory components. Useof each memory component may be prioritized in the vehicle camera 102.For example, the vehicle camera 102 may loop the recordings on internalmemory and save locked recordings to the removable memory component. Thepriority may be established through user settings in some embodiments.In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 may save the recordings toboth memory components during operation. In some embodiments, therecordings are referred to as image files.

Embodiments of the vehicle camera 102 may operate in a loop to storemultiple limited duration video clips, such as video clips that are 1minute long, into memory of the vehicle camera 102 and once thedesignated memory space is full, the vehicle camera 102 overwrites theexisting video clips stored in the memory unless they have been lockedor otherwise prioritized to prevent or delay overwriting the specificvideo clip. For example, a user may lock a video clip to preventoverwriting the video clip. For another example, the vehicle camera 102may place an intermediate priority flag to save a video clip associatedwith an alert received by the vehicle camera 102. In some embodiments,the system 100 and/or a remote device may manage the video clip or imagefile including the video clip based upon the priority flag.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 will automatically lock oneor more video clips based upon a critical trigger, such as a G-Forcethreshold, a decibel threshold, a vehicle diagnostic trigger, a safetytrigger and/or another trigger. For example, a critical trigger mayoccur when the vehicle camera system 100 detects a change in the decibellevel is above a threshold decibel change. In some embodiments, thedelta or change in decibel level may be measured based upon a loopingcomparison of decibel levels with the preceding decibel level todetermine whether a sudden change occurred which may indicate a criticalevent, such as a collision, an emergency alarm or siren, a gunshot,engine failure and/or other event. In some embodiments, the baselinedecibel level may be based upon a speaker output, such as the radiooutput in the vehicle, and the threshold decibel level to indicate acritical event is based upon a delta over the baseline decibel level. Insuch embodiments, the vehicle camera system 100 may communicate withcomponents with speakers to identify the current volume settings andreceive user volume changes in real-time to prevent false criticalidentifications based upon user volume changes.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 includes a microphone and/orother audio recording elements. The vehicle camera 102 may includecontrols to allow the user to mute or turn off the microphone. Forexample, the user may press a button to mute the microphone to keepconfidential and/or private audio within the vehicle from beingrecorded. For another example, an instruction from the mobilecommunication device 104 may cause internal controls of the vehiclecamera 102 to mute the microphone. In some embodiments, the vehiclecamera 102 may operate to effectuate the muting instruction of themicrophone during post processing of a video in order to ensure audio isavailable if an emergency, critical or important event occurs, such as acollision, a crime, a weather event, a nature event, an arrest or otherapplicable event. For example, the vehicle camera 102 may record anaudio/visual file and remove the audio portion from the file unless atriggering event or user input identifies the file as critical.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 operates in a loop to storea video recording and a corresponding, separate audio recording for aset duration. After the recording loop repeats, the vehicle camera 102deletes the audio recording unless the vehicle camera 102 is in acritical operation mode wherein the files are identified as critical andlocked. The vehicle camera 102 enters the critical operation mode when acritical identification or trigger occurs. The critical identificationmay be based upon a manual input by a user and/or based upon a triggerevent, such as a G-Force threshold, a peak decibel threshold, a decibelchange threshold, a vehicle diagnostic trigger, a safety trigger and/oranother trigger. For example, the vehicle camera system 100 may identifya recording as critical based upon a safety trigger, such as an impacttrigger, an airbag deployment trigger, a lane departure, a distance toobject trigger and/or another safety trigger. Once identified ascritical, the vehicle camera 102 or another component associated withthe vehicle camera 102 may merge the corresponding video and audiorecordings into a single audio/visual file.

Embodiments of the vehicle camera 102 may operate to store audio filescorresponding to each video file in the storage of vehicle camera 102and overwrite the audio file in conjunction with the video file. In suchan embodiment, the audio file will be deleted unless the user or asystem trigger operates to lock or save the audio file. The audio filein such embodiments may be contained within hidden storage so that theaudio file is not readily apparent for playback and may requiresufficient user credentials to be played. When a user locks a video filein such an embodiment, the vehicle camera 102 may provide the option ofsaving the video file, the audio file and/or a merged audio/visual file.In other embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 may record both a videoonly file and an audio/visual file. The vehicle camera 102 may deletethe audio/visual file unless the recording is identified as criticalthrough a user interface or automatically based upon a triggering event.During operation, if an audio/visual file is saved, the video only filewill be overwritten as part of a looping operation of the vehicle camera102. In such an embodiment, a post-processing merge of files isunnecessary and a partial audio/visual file may be available in theevent the camera becomes damaged during a collision or other incident.In some embodiments, the combined audio/visual file may be hidden orencrypted to prevent unauthorized access to the file. The audiomanagement features improve the computer system processing operation formanaging a muting operation selected by a user while providing audioavailability in the event of a critical event.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 also includes acommunication element operable to communicate over a short-range ornear-field communication standard, such as the BLUETOOTH® communicationstandard, the ZIGBEE® communication standard, the Wi-Fi communicationstandard, or any other communication standard. For example, the vehiclecamera 102 may include a low-energy BLUETOOTH communication component.Although specific communication standards may be identified forillustrative examples herein, one skilled in the art will recognize thatother communication standards may be employed and remain within thescope and spirit of the invention. In some embodiments, communicationelements that operate on wide area networks may be incorporated into thevehicle camera 102. While some embodiments may incorporate communicationelements for wide area networks, embodiments with only short-rangecommunication components may reduce complexity, size and cost of thevehicle camera 102 design and operation compared to integratingwide-area network communication elements.

In the vehicle system 100 shown, the vehicle camera 102 communicateswith the mobile communication device 104 using the short-rangecommunication standard. In addition, the vehicle camera 102 mayoptionally communicate directly with the electromagnetic signal detector106 using the short-range communication standard.

The mobile communication device 104 may be a mobile phone, a cellularphone, a smart phone, a satellite phone, a personal digital assistant, aportable computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and/or anyother device with a user interface and the capability to wirelesslycommunicate. In this embodiment, the mobile communication device 104includes a screen 120, a button 122 and a speaker 124. In someembodiments, the mobile communication device 104 may include additionalcomponents, such as additional user interface components (e.g. buttons,controls, microphones, displays, audio and light outputs, etc.), camerasand/or input/output ports. The mobile communication device 104 mayexchange data with the vehicle camera 102 using the short-rangecommunication standard. For example, the mobile communication device 104may transmit alert information, the current speed, the current location,current heading, weather information (such as temperature and barometricpressure), lighting information, traffic information, roadwayinformation and other information available to the mobile communicationdevice 104. In some embodiments, the mobile communication device 104 mayreceive local data such as weather data, fuel prices and drivingconditions associated with the current geographic location from a serverand transmit the local data to the vehicle camera 102. The local datamay be retrieved in some embodiments based upon information available tothe vehicle camera system 100 or triggered by a subscription service.For example, the mobile communication device 104 may receive vehicleoperation data indicating low fuel and retrieve local data relating tofuel prices near the current geographic location. Once the fuel pricesare retrieved, the mobile communication device 104 may transmit the lowgas warning with select nearby fuel prices to the vehicle camera 102 forthe user.

Other user input components such as switches, slide controls and othercontrol components may be used instead of button 122. The display 120provides a visual output on the face of the mobile communication device104. In some embodiments, the display 120 may also provide a touchscreen option to operate as an additional input component. The speaker124 is designed to provide an audible output for the mobilecommunication device 104. In some embodiments, additional and/oralternative input and output components may be included in the mobilecommunication device 104.

Embodiments of the mobile communication device 104 include one or morecommunication elements. The communication element(s) facilitate bothshort-range communication and wide area communication capabilities. Forexample, the mobile communication device 104 may include onecommunication element which facilitates communication over a short-rangecommunication standard, such as those discussed above, and a secondcommunication element which facilitates communication over a wide areacommunication standard. The wide area communication standard may includecommunication networks such as a cellular telephone network, a satellitenetwork, a Wi-Fi, another wireless network, and/or the Internet. As oneskilled in the art will recognize, the vehicle camera system 100 throughthe mobile communication device 104 may operate on one or more publicnetworks, private networks or combinations of public and privatenetworks.

The mobile communication device 104 may exchange information with thevehicle camera 102 using the short-range or near-field communicationcapabilities embedded in each component. This exchange of information ordata between the mobile communication device 104 and the vehicle camera102 facilitates many operational capabilities for the vehicle camerasystem 100 discussed further herein. For example, the mobilecommunication device 104 may enable the vehicle camera 102 to utilizethe corresponding user interface of the mobile communication device 104for input and output operations for the vehicle camera 102. In addition,the user interface of the vehicle camera 102 may be used to provideinput and output operations for the mobile communication device 104. Forexample, the user interface of the vehicle camera 102 may be used tooperate music controls facilitated by the mobile communication device104. In addition, the transfer of information may improve the efficiencyand/or operations of one or more of the hardware components of thevehicle camera system 100. The vehicle camera system 100 may alsofacilitate additional advantages by leveraging the pre-existingcommunication capabilities of the mobile communication device 104. Forexample, the vehicle camera 102 may leverage the pre-existingcommunication capabilities of the mobile communication device 104 toinexpensively, quickly, and easily exchange data with a remote datasource, such as a server and/or another vehicle camera system 100located in another vehicle. In addition, the vehicle camera 102 mayreceive information from the remote data source via the pre-existingcommunication capabilities of the mobile communication device 104.

In addition to the operational advantages, the vehicle camera system 100may provide cost benefits. Many potential vehicle camera 102 usersalready own and regularly use a mobile communication device 104, such asa mobile phone, and therefore may not need to purchase any additionalmobile communication device 104 to interface with the vehicle camera102. Because the user likely owns a mobile communication device 104,embodiments of the vehicle camera 102 may be designed without redundantelements (e.g. cellular network cards, GPS chips, etc.) to reduce costwithout forgoing capabilities provided by these elements.

In this embodiment, the vehicle camera system 100 also includes anelectromagnetic signal detector 106. In some embodiments, the vehiclecamera system 100 may not include the electromagnetic signal detector106. An electromagnetic signal detector is a device designed to detectelectromagnetic signals (such as microwave signals) or laser signalstransmitted from radar or laser-type speed measurement equipment, suchas police radar signals. Thus, electromagnetic signal detectors serve toprovide advance warning to drivers who are being monitored by policeradar. As used herein, the terms radar detector and electromagneticsignal detector will be used interchangeably to refer to any of a numberof known signal detection units capable of detecting electromagneticsignals in the X-band, K-band or Ka-band. Furthermore, the terms radardetector and electromagnetic signal detector will also be usedinterchangeably to refer to radar and/or laser detectors, and couldrefer to any electromagnetic wave detector or light wave detectordesigned to detect signals generated by another device. The terms radardetector and electromagnetic signal detector do not refer to imagingdevices, such as cameras, that are not designed to detect generatedsignals. Examples of known technology in this area include U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,784,021 and 5,151,701.

The electromagnetic signal detector 106 shown includes controls 126 anddisplay 128. The controls 126 are depicted as three buttons in thisembodiment. In some embodiments, the controls 126 may comprise otheruser input components such as switches, slide controls and other controlcomponents. In some embodiments, the display 128 may provide a touchscreen option to operate as an additional input component.

Embodiments of the electromagnetic signal detector 106 include one ormore communication elements to facilitate short-range communicationcapabilities. In some embodiments the electromagnetic signal detector106 may include a communication element to facilitate wide areacommunication. The electromagnetic signal detector 106 may exchangeinformation with the mobile communication device 104 using theshort-range or near-field communication capabilities embedded in eachcomponent. In some embodiments, the electromagnetic signal detector 106may optionally exchange information with the vehicle camera 102 usingthe short-range or near-field communication capabilities embedded ineach component. In some embodiments, information from theelectromagnetic signal detector 106 is passed to the vehicle camera 102through communication first to the mobile communication device 104 thensecond from the mobile communication device 104 to the vehicle camera102.

The communication element facilitates the exchange of information ordata between the electromagnetic signal detector 106, the mobilecommunication device 104 and the vehicle camera 102. This providesoperational capabilities for the vehicle camera system 100 discussedfurther herein. For example, the electromagnetic signal detector 106 maydetect a radar signal and transmit a communication to the mobilecommunication device 104 regarding the detected signal. The mobilecommunication device 104 may send an instruction to flag the currentvideo based upon the radar signal detection and send a predicted alertlevel based upon a signal analysis and prior prediction of an alertlevel for the location to the vehicle camera 102. The vehicle camera 102may display the predicted alert level and flag the video correspondingwith the signal detection.

For another example, the mobile communication device 104 may operate asa user interface for the vehicle camera 102 and the electromagneticsignal detector 106 to improve the efficiency of operating multiplevehicle devices. Alternatively, user interface of the vehicle camera 102may operate as a singular user interface for all of the components inthe vehicle camera system 100. Using a single device as the userinterface may also increase safety by eliminating the need for a user toreach for multiple different devices to manage multiple operations.

In some embodiments, the electromagnetic signal detector 106, mobilecommunication device 104 and the vehicle camera 102 are operable tocommunicate collectively in real-time or near real-time. For example,the electromagnetic signal detector 106 may detect a signal andconcurrently transmit the signal information to both the vehicle camera102 and the mobile communication device 104. At the same time, themobile communication device 104 may transmit a concurrent signal to theelectromagnetic signal detector 106 and the vehicle camera 102indicating a predicted false alert at the current vehicle locationassociated with a specific radar signal. The vehicle camera system 100components may each compare the detected signal characteristics to thefalse alert radar signal characteristics to determine if the signalcharacteristics match and the detected signal is a false alert. Basedupon the false alert determination, none of the components provide analert. Finally, the vehicle camera 102 may send the corresponding videorecording to the mobile communication device 104 which sends therecording with the corresponding detected signal information to a remoteserver for further post processing of the video recording.

In some embodiments, the communication capabilities of one or more ofthe vehicle camera 102, the mobile communication device 104 and theelectromagnetic signal detector 106 may be utilized to automaticallyexecute the vehicle camera system 100 and/or the method of operation ofthe vehicle camera 102, the mobile communication device 104 and/or theelectromagnetic signal detector 106 when two such vehicle camera system100 components are within a certain range, such as the communicationrange of the short-range communication standard. For example, thevehicle camera 102 and the mobile communication device 104 may containpaired radio frequency identification (“RFID”) components. When therange between the vehicle camera 102 and the mobile communication device104 is within the RFID signal range, the RFID components cause anapplication within mobile communication device 104 to automaticallyexecute the system and/or method. In some embodiments, the automaticexecution of the system begins when the mobile communication device 104is within an operational range of another vehicle camera system 100component. For example, once the mobile communication device 104 iswithin range of the vehicle camera 102 and the electromagnetic signaldetector 106 located in a vehicle, the devices could “pair” via theBLUETOOTH standard. As one skilled in the art will recognize, thecommunication capabilities may be used to automatically execute all orportions of the vehicle camera system 100 and the operations thereof. Inaddition, one skilled in the art will recognize that the communicationcapabilities may be used to permit, preclude or and/modify otheroperations of the vehicle camera system 100 and remain within the scopeand spirit of the invention. For example, when the vehicle camera system100 is active, the electromagnetic signal detector 106 may turn offalert outputs to prevent unnecessary duplication of the alert outputamong multiple devices.

When the vehicle camera system 100 devices are paired, the vehiclecamera system 100 may operate using collective settings coordinating theactions and operations of each component in the vehicle camera system100. For example, when the vehicle camera 102, the mobile communicationdevice 104 and the electromagnetic signal detector 106 are paired, thevehicle camera system 100 may use the display output of the vehiclecamera 102 to show predicted alerts and the speaker 124 of the mobilecommunication device 104 to provide audible alerts. The other visual andaudio outputs available to the vehicle camera system 100—such as thedisplay 128 and a speaker of the electromagnetic signal detector 106and/or a speaker on the vehicle camera 102—may also be used. Inaddition, the vehicle camera system 100 may use control buttons on thevehicle camera 102 for the user input. In addition, the vehicle camera102 may receive voice instructions through a microphone in the vehiclecamera 102. In some embodiments, the voice instructions may be receivedin a microphone in the mobile communication device 104.

In some embodiments, the electromagnetic signal detector 106 may bedesigned to use the user input and output elements of other componentsin the vehicle camera system 100. Such an embodiment of theelectromagnetic signal detector 106 may not include any user input oroutput elements and may be referred to as a “black box” design. Becausethe user does not need to directly see or touch the “black box” designduring operation, the “black box” design may be located anywhere in thevehicle where the electromagnetic signal detecting elements are operableto detect electromagnetic signals and the communication elements areoperable to communicate with other components in the vehicle camerasystem 100.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 102 may be integrated into acommon housing with another device, such as the electromagnetic signaldetector 106, a navigation component and/or another in-vehicle device.Embodiments of the integrated vehicle camera device may include one ormore communication elements facilitating communication with the mobilecommunication device 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of system 200 showing an embodimentof a networked vehicle camera system. The depicted system 200 includes amotor vehicle 202 having in-vehicle components including a camera 204, amobile communication device 206 and an additional data source 208. Theadditional data source 208 is illustrated in broken lines to indicatethat it is an optional component. In some embodiments, the in-vehiclecomponents may only include the camera 204 and the mobile communicationdevice 206. Alternatively, some embodiments may only include the camera204 and/or an integrated camera device in place of camera 204. Thesystem 200 also includes a communication network 210 connected to one ormore of the in-vehicle components with a server 212. The server 212 isfurther associated with a database 214 and a data processor 216. As oneskilled in the art will recognize, the system 200 may include any numberof motor vehicles 202, cameras 204, mobile communication devices 206,additional data sources 208, communication networks 210, servers 212,databases 214 and data processors 216 and should not be limited to theillustrative example provided in FIG. 2.

In this embodiment, the camera 204, the mobile communication device 206and the additional data source 208 operate as an in-vehicle camerasystem similar to the vehicle camera system 100 described in conjunctionwith FIG. 1 above. As an initial matter, the camera 204 and the mobilecommunication device 206 may operate similar to the vehicle camera 102and mobile communication device 104 described above. In this embodiment,the additional data source 208 may be a vehicle information system, anelectromagnetic signal detector—such as the electromagnetic signaldetector 106 discussed above—or another data source. For example, theadditional data source 208 may be a navigation component, a diagnosticsystem of the motor vehicle 202, an alarm sensor, a weather sensor oranother type of sensor or component that may provide data to thein-vehicle camera system. For another example, the additional datasource may be a vehicle information system of the motor vehicle 202operable to provide vehicle operation data, such as speed, acceleration,braking information, vehicle diagnostic information, vehicle userinterface information (i.e. volume control information, cruise controlinformation, etc.). Although one additional data source 208 is shown,the motor vehicle 202 and the in-vehicle camera system may include morethan one additional data source 208. For example, an in-vehicle camerasystem may include the camera 204, the mobile communication device 206,a radar detector, a vehicle information system and a navigation unit.

In some embodiments, the in-vehicle components each include ashort-range communication element to facilitate communication betweenone or more in-vehicle components. For example, the camera 204 and themobile communication device 206 may include communication elements forwireless communication using the BLUETOOTH communication standard. Inaddition, at least one of the in-vehicle components includes acommunication element to facilitate wide area communicationcapabilities. In the system 200, the wide area communicationcapabilities facilitate communication over the communication network210.

The communication network 210 may comprise one or more public networks,private networks or combinations of public and private networksoperating on and/or in conjunction with a cellular telephone network, asatellite network, a Wi-Fi, another wide-area wireless network, theInternet, and/or any other wide-area communication network. As usedherein, communication network 210 may include the protocols, controls,systems, and/or components for facilitating communication amongdifferent types of networks. For example, the mobile communicationdevice 206 may operate on a Wi-Fi network at a local book store toaccess the Internet in order to communicate with server 212. In someembodiments which include multiple devices with wide-area communicationcapabilities, the devices may operate on the same communication network210 and/or different communication networks 210.

In some embodiments, one of the in-vehicle devices may access anintermediate device external to the vehicle using a short-rangecommunication capability wherein the intermediate device facilitatescommunication over the communication network 210. For example, when themotor vehicle 202 is parked in the garage of a house, the additionaldata source 208 may facilitate communication over a BLUETOOTHcommunication standard to a router in the house which facilitates aconnection to the Internet. In such an embodiment, the in-vehicle camerasystem may exchange information with the server 212 when the user'smobile communication device 206 is removed from the motor vehicle 202and the remaining in-vehicle components only include short-rangecommunication elements. The router may automatically pair with one ormore of the in-vehicle devices when the devices are within range asdiscussed above and automatically initiate an exchange of data.

The server 212 may be a centralized server that aggregates informationfrom the in-vehicle camera system and other sources—such as the systemdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,970,422 and 8,842,004 and U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2013/0214939. In addition, other sources ofinformation and data may be collected and aggregated from a roadwayvideo database, a traffic analysis database, a social media database,map databases, emergency responder databases, weather databases (such asthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (“NOAA”) database forweather warnings), work-zone databases, law enforcement equipment use ina geographic location (such as a database identifying types of radar andlaser guns in use for a given county) and/or other databases andsystems. In some embodiments, the data is automatically received and/oraccessed by the server 212. In some embodiments, a system administratoror another user will initiate the transfer of additional information tothe server 212. For example, a user may record a traffic incident fromtheir porch and upload the recording to the server 212. In someembodiments, the in-vehicle camera system will automatically transmitvideo and additional data to the server 212 based upon a criticaltrigger occurrence. In some embodiments, the system 200 will operate toprocess the video and data in conjunction with the receipt of the datato determine the nature of the critical event and if an emergencyresponse is needed to address the critical event.

Each of the in-vehicle camera system and the server 212 has the abilityto initiate the process of sending or receiving data. The data mayrelate to video recordings, location, speed, and/or acceleration of themotor vehicle 202, law enforcement activity, detectable electromagneticsignals, traffic conditions, other hazards or alerts, traffic incidents,emergency events, potential theft events and/or the status of thein-vehicle devices, such as a failure indication from the vehiclediagnostic system in the motor vehicle 202. Video recordings from camera204 associated with the data or the time of an event, action and/oralert may be identified and flagged at the time of the occurrence basedupon a user input or automatically by the in-vehicle system based upon atrigger condition or electronic instruction. Alternatively, the videorecording from camera 204 associated with the data or the time of anevent, action and/or alert may be sent to the server 212 forpost-processing to identify and flag the video recording and/or specificpoints within the video recording. As one skilled in the art willrecognize, law enforcement activity includes speed traps, speed cameras,red light cameras, and any law enforcement personnel and/or deviceenforcing traffic laws. When data associated with law enforcementactivity is sent to the server 212 with a video recording, the server212 may use video recognition to determine if the video shows thecorresponding law enforcement activity, such as a red light camera orlaw enforcement vehicle.

The data may also include driving patterns of motor vehicle 202 and/orspecific driving patterns of individuals, including patterns relating tothe driver's typical reaction to specific alerts under specificcircumstances. For example, the system 200 may detect that the vehiclein which it is operating suddenly decelerated in response to a specificelectromagnetic signal. This action by the vehicle could signify thatthe operator perceived an actual hazard or law enforcement activity,indicating that the signal is a legitimate source. Accordingly, thecamera 204 may save the video recording associated with the decelerationand electromagnetic signal and transmit the video to the server 212 forfurther analysis. Video analysis may improve the capability for theserver 212 to provide customized data, predicted alerts and otherinformation for a specific motor vehicle 202 and/or individual usingmotor vehicle 202.

In some embodiments, the camera 204 and server 212 may leverage thevarious communication standards of the mobile communication device 206to communicate data in real-time or may communicate data based upon aschedule, a triggering event (such as reaching a data quantity thresholdor a data storage size threshold), and/or a combination of a scheduleand triggering event and remain within the scope and spirit of theinvention. For example, the camera 204 may record an event as a videothat is saved based upon a user selection and stores the video ininternal memory, such as a buffer. Once a threshold quantity of data isreached or surpassed in the buffer, the camera 204 communicates savedvideos and other data to the mobile communication device 206 viaBLUETOOTH, and the mobile communication device 206 communicates thevideo and other data to the server 212 via a telephone communicationnetwork. For another example, the mobile communication device 206 mayreceive and store data from the camera 204 and additional data source208 in an internal buffer, and wait until a threshold quantity of datais reached or surpassed in the buffer before communicating the data tothe server 212 via a telephone communication network. For yet anotherexample, the camera 204 may stream a video feed in real-time (or nearreal-time) to the server 212 and/or the database 214. The real-timevideo feed may be transmitted directly using a wide-area communicationelement integrated into some embodiments of the camera 204. In otherembodiments, the real-time video feed may be transmitted indirectly byleveraging a wide-area communication element of the mobile communicationdevice 206 which is wirelessly connected to the camera 204 over ashort-range communication standard.

Upon receipt of data, the server 212 may store data into physical orelectronic memory in the database 214, which may be part of the server212 or separate from the server 212. The stored data may be aggregatedand organized within the database according to source, content, flagsand other characteristics of the data.

The server 212 is associated with a data processor 216 that executesanalysis algorithms to periodically collect, sort, organize and analyzethe data. The data processor 216 may be part of the server 212 orseparate from the server 212. The result of the analysis conducted bythe data processor 216 is stored in database 214. The results may bestored as new records within the database 214 or within a partitionedsection of the database 214. The data may be associated with database214, but as one skilled in the art will recognize, the data processor216 may incorporate or otherwise analyze data from sources other thanthe database 214 and remain within the scope and spirit of theinvention. The data processor 216 may be designed to conduct statisticaland/or predictive calculations based upon data available to the dataprocessor 216 relating to the likelihood of future events includingthreats, hazards, alerts, law enforcement speed monitoring activityand/or traffic conditions. In the context of the present invention, theterms threat, predicted alert and predictive alert may be usedinterchangeably to refer to the likelihood (i.e. probability) that auser of the present invention will encounter a police radar unit, a roadhazard, a change in the posted speed limit, or other event that willtrigger an alert to be provided to the user of the in-vehicle camerasystem.

In addition, embodiments of the data processor 216 are designed toconduct video recognition analysis to identify additional data relevantto the statistical and/or predictive calculations. For example, the dataprocessor 216 may review video recordings that are associated with ageographic area to determine if the video shows events, threats and/orfalse signal sources at the geographic area. The data processor 216 mayuse the additional identified data from the video to modify a predictedalert level for the geographic area and store the predicted alert levelfor that geographic area in database 214. The database 214 may containpredicted alert levels for multiple geographic areas. In addition, animage or clip from the video recording showing the identified event,threat or false signal source may be stored in conjunction with thepredicted alert level associated with a geographic area. In someembodiments, the predicted alert is stored with the video clip andadditional support for the prediction in a common file. In someembodiments, the predicted alert is a single file that is associatedwith the supporting data via database linking and/or organizationprotocols. In such an embodiment, the file size of the predicted alertmay be smaller in order to efficiently and quickly transmit the filefrom the server 212 to the in-vehicle camera system.

In some embodiments, the data processor 216 is designed to conductpost-processing of a video recording from camera 204. For example, thedata processor 216 may collect information related to the videorecording received from the camera 204—such as location and local timeinformation from the mobile communication device 206—and embed theadditional information into the recording. For another example, the dataprocessor 216 may modify the video file based upon user settings—such asremoving the audio file and compressing the video file. In someembodiments, the data processor 216 may operate to compile multiplevideo clips from the camera 204 into a single video. For example, thecamera 204 may transmit a series of video clips with data related to theorder of the video clips to the server 212 and the data processor 216may create the final video by concatenating the video clips based on theorder data. In some embodiments, the video clips comprising a finalvideo may leave out certain intermediate clips and/or be a selection ofvideo clips that were independent from each other. For example, a usermay send a series of video clips associated with multiple locations of afavorite restaurant the user visited.

In some embodiments, the in-vehicle camera system may receive operationinstructions from the server 212 over the communication network 210. Forexample, the server 212 may provide instructions for the camera 204 torecord a video of a side street which the motor vehicle 202 isapproaching in order to analyze whether a predicted threat is located onthe side street. The instructions may be received by the mobilecommunication device 206 and sent to the camera 204. Once received bythe camera 204, the camera 204 may activate electromechanical controlsto move the focal point of the camera 204 to capture images down theside street. The camera 204 may then transmit the video recording of theside street along with an embedded flag indicating the location and viewassociated with the recording to the server 212 for further analysis.The camera 204 may return to the original focal point after recordingthe images as instructed by the server 212. In some embodiments, thefocal point instructions for the camera 204 may be included withpredicted alerts having known locations to increase the likelihood thatthe camera 204 records the source of the predicted alert.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of system 300 showing an embodimentof a networked vehicle camera system. The depicted system 300 includes amotor vehicle 302 having in-vehicle components including a first camera304, a mobile communication device 306, an additional data source 308, asecond camera 320 and an external data storage 322. The additional datasource 308 is illustrated in broken lines to indicate that it is anoptional component. The system 300 also includes a communication network310 connected to one or more of the in-vehicle components with a server312. The server 312 is further associated with a database 314 and a dataprocessor 316. As one skilled in the art will recognize, the system 300may include any number of motor vehicles 302, cameras 304 and 320,mobile communication devices 306, additional data sources 308, externaldata storage 322, communication networks 310, servers 312, databases 314and data processors 316 and should not be limited to the illustrativeexample provided in FIG. 3.

The system 300 is similar to system 200 discussed above other than theaddition of second camera 320 and external data storage 322. Similarly,the first camera 304, the mobile communication device 306, theadditional data source 308, the second camera 320 and the external datastorage 322 in this embodiment operate as an in-vehicle camera system.The additional data source 308 may be an electromagnetic signaldetector, a navigation component, a diagnostic system of the motorvehicle 302, an alarm sensor, a weather sensor or another type of sensoror component that may provide data to the in-vehicle camera system.Although one additional data source 308 is shown, the motor vehicle 302and the in-vehicle camera system may include more than one additionaldata source 308.

In this embodiment, the first camera 304 and the second camera 320 arelocated at different locations in the motor vehicle 302 and providedifferent video feeds. For example, the first camera 304 may be a dashcamera having a forward view from the motor vehicle 302 and the secondcamera 320 may be positioned to record the passenger cabin of thevehicle. In such an embodiment, the second camera 320 may be oriented toview specific passengers, such as kids in the back seat, including forexample, those in a rear-facing child seat. For another example, thefirst camera 304 may be a vehicle reverse camera located in the rearbumper and the second camera 320 may be a dash camera with a forwardviewing angle. In some embodiments, the motor vehicle 302 may contain aplurality of cameras 304 and 320 viewing multiple perspectives aroundthe motor vehicle 302. In some embodiments, one of the cameras 304 and320 may operate to collect specific information within a vehicle. Forexample, the second camera 320 may be located in the back of anambulance to record the incoming patient and medical attention beingprovided to the incoming patient, and the video feed may be sent to thehospital in order to prepare for the incoming patient. In such anembodiment, additional patient sensor information, such as patienttemperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and other patient information,may be sent in conjunction with the video feed.

In some embodiments, the first camera 304 and/or the second camera 320may include a display showing the video feed from the first camera 304,the second camera 320 or both cameras 304 and 320. For example, a parentmay set the display to show one or more video feeds of the kids in thevehicle. A user interface controlling the video display may allow a userto select which video output display to provide. In some embodiments,the video output is displayed on the mobile communication device 306and/or another in-vehicle component of the vehicle camera system.

This embodiment also includes the external data storage 322 in the motorvehicle 302. The external data storage 322 may be any hardware memory orstorage component operable to store electronic data. In someembodiments, the external data storage 322 may be integrated with anadditional data source 308 such as an on-board vehicle computer ordigital music player built into the motor vehicle 302. In someembodiments, the external data storage 322 is located in a remotelocation of the vehicle and wirelessly communicates with otherin-vehicle components using a short-range communication element. Whenthe external data storage 322 is actively communicating with anotherin-vehicle camera system component, data may be stored in the externaldata storage 322 consistent with settings in the in-vehicle camerasystem settings. For example, the first camera 304 may transmit theactive video feed to the external data storage 322 during operation forthe external data storage to save without using any memory space in thefirst camera 304. In some embodiments, the external data storage 322 mayoperate as a redundant storage component. The use of the external datastorage 322 for redundant storage may provide additional benefits fortheft prevention and/or recovery. For example, the cameras 304 and 320may record images and/or other data relating to a theft and store thedata in the external data storage 322 which is located in a secured,remote location in the motor vehicle 302. In some embodiments, a theftevent may trigger additional data from other components in the motorvehicle to be sent to the external data storage 322—such as distancetraveled information, acceleration and deceleration events, navigationentries and/or current location information. The external data storage322 may then transmit the data and recordings to the server 312, whichmay provide notice to owner of motor vehicle 302, the police and/oranother entity and facilitate access to the data from the external datastorage 322. In addition, the external data storage 322 may be designedto protect data during events which may harm or destroy the cameras 304and 320—such as fires, traffic accidents and/or other events.

In some embodiments, the in-vehicle components each include ashort-range communication element to facilitate communication betweenone or more in-vehicle components. For example, the first camera 304,the second camera 320 and the mobile communication device 306 mayinclude communication elements for wireless communication using theBLUETOOTH communication standard. In addition, at least one of thein-vehicle components includes a communication element to facilitatewide area communication capabilities. For example, the mobilecommunication device 306 and the external data storage 322 may containcommunication elements for cellular communication. In the system 300,the wide area communication capabilities facilitate communication overthe communication network 310.

In this embodiment, the communication network 310, the server 312, thedatabase 314 and the data processor 316 generally operate as describedwith respect to system 200 discussed above. However, the additional dataavailable from the second camera 320 facilitates additional options forthe analysis conducted by the data processor 316 and the use of externaldata storage 322 allows for additional system functionality.

The data processor 316 may analyze corresponding video feeds from boththe first camera 304 and the second camera 320. Incorporating a secondcamera view for analysis may provide an alternative perspective whichshows information not available in the view of the first camera 304. Forexample, while the first camera 304 facing forward along a road may notclearly show a police vehicle hidden behind an obstruction, the secondcamera 320 facing rearward may provide a clear view of the policevehicle as the motor vehicle 302 is driving away from the location.Accordingly, the data processor 316 may determine the presence of athreat is confirmed based upon the second camera 320 recording while thepresence of a threat is inconclusive based upon the first camera 304recording. For another example, during a collision of motor vehicle 302caused by another vehicle from behind the motor vehicle 302, the firstcamera 304 facing forward may provide only limited data ancillary to thecollision—such as movement of the motor vehicle 302 caused by thecollision and the surrounding environment. However, the second camera320 which is rear facing showing the passenger compartment may showcertain elements of the collision itself and reactions of the passengerswithin motor vehicle 302. This additional information may be relevant topolice analysis of the collision and for medical professionals assessinginjuries to passengers in motor vehicle 302.

The inclusion of external data storage 322 may allow the triggers forexchanging information between the in-vehicle camera system componentsand the server 312. Because the external data storage 322 may storesignificant amounts of data from multiple in-vehicle components, thedata may not need to be transmitted to the server 312 as often due tostorage size thresholds. In addition, the server 312 may send more datato the external data storage 322 for the in-vehicle system components touse without needing to connect with the server 312. For example, theserver 312 may provide predicted alert information includingcharacteristics for identifying the alerts for a large geographic areato the external data storage 322. The mobile communication device 306may access the predicted alert information and compare the specificlocation information for the predicted alerts with the current locationdetermined by the mobile communication device 306 to identifypotentially relevant predicted alerts. When a predicted alert isapplicable to the current (or approaching) geographic location of themobile communication device 306, the mobile communication device 306will transmit the predicted alert to the first camera 304 to display thepredicted alert to the user.

FIGS. 4-6 show a back view of an illustrative embodiment of a vehiclecamera 402 for discussion and the disclosure is not limited to theembodiment of vehicle camera 402 shown. The vehicle camera 402 includesa display 404, a connection 406 and buttons 408, 410, 412, 414, 416 and418. In some embodiments, the back of the vehicle camera 402 may includeadditional and/or alternative elements, such as additional controls, amicrophone, a secondary camera lens, a speaker and/or other elements. Insome embodiments, the elements shown on the back of the vehicle camera402 may be located elsewhere on the vehicle camera 402. In addition,embodiments of the vehicle camera 402 may include a different number ofbuttons 408-418, displays and/or connections 406 than shown in FIGS.4-6. In addition, the vehicle camera 402 includes a communicationelement and is designed to operate as part of a vehicle camera system,such as the ones described above.

The display 404 provides a visual output for a user of the vehiclecamera 402. In some embodiments, the display may include touch screencapabilities to also operate as an input for the vehicle camera 402. Insuch an embodiment, one or more of the buttons 408-418 may not be partof the vehicle camera 402. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402may modify the display 404 based upon data from external sources, suchas a mobile communication device. For example, the brightness of display404 may change based upon light sensor data, heading, time of day and/orother data. As discussed further below, illustrative screens are shownon the display 402 for each of FIGS. 4-6 to illustrate operations of thevehicle camera 402.

The connection 406 is shown at the top of the vehicle camera 402 shown.The connection 406 is similar to the connection 110 discussed withrespect to FIG. 1 above. Similarly, the connection 406 may facilitateconnecting the vehicle camera 402 to a mount in or on a motor vehicle.For example, a mount may be adhered to the front windshield of a vehicleand attached to connection 406 to hang the vehicle camera 402 from thedash of a vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402 may bemounted in an inverted orientation such that the connection 406 islocated at the bottom of the vehicle camera 402. In such an orientation,the vehicle camera 402 may operate to invert the visual output shown onthe display 404. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402 willseparately invert and/or rearrange icons and sections of the visualoutput displayed. For example, the vehicle camera 402 may move the iconsshown in operation bar 422 to the top of the display 404 and arrange theicons to maintain the correlation with each of buttons 408-414.

In the embodiment shown, the buttons 408-414 illustrate operationcontrol buttons corresponding to the function icons shown in operationbar 422 shown in the display 404. Each button 408-414 is operable toselect the function shown in the corresponding icon in operation bar422. The effect of each button 408-414 may change with changes in theoperation bar 422. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402 mayinclude alternative controls in place of one or more of the buttons408-414. For example, instead of buttons 408-414, the display 404 mayfacilitate touch screen controls allowing each icon shown in operationbar 422 to be selected. In such an embodiment, the size of display 404may be increased to cover the area comprising the buttons 408-414. Insome embodiments, specific functions may be assigned to one or more ofthe buttons 408-414 that do not change with the display 404. Forexample, button 408 may always operate as a microphone muting button.

In this embodiment, the button 416 operates as a power button to turnthe vehicle camera 402 on and off. In some embodiments, the button 416may operate to control a different function of the vehicle camera 402.For example, the button 416 may be used to set a reminder flag in arecording to act as a reminder for the user during playback of thevideo.

Button 418 in this embodiment operates as an emergency record button toallow a user to manually set a recording to a locked state. The vehiclecamera 402 will operate to maintain any vehicle having a locked setting.For example, the vehicle camera 402 operates in a default setting torecord video clips in a loop whereby once the memory is full, thevehicle camera 402 will begin to loop through the memory overwriting theoldest video clips. When recording video clips, the vehicle camera 402will not overwrite the locked video clip. In some embodiments, thebutton 418 may operate to control a different function of the vehiclecamera 402. For example, the button 418 may be used to erase thepreceding video clip.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402 may include additionalbuttons or controls. For example, the bottom of the vehicle camera 402may include a reset button to reset the default settings of the vehiclecamera 402. In addition, one skilled in the art will recognize that thebuttons 408-418 may be replaced with alternative user interface elementsand remain within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. For example,one or more of the buttons 408-418 may be replaced and/or modified withother user controls such as knobs, slide controls, switches, voicecontrols, touch-screen applications and/or other components.

In FIG. 4, the display 404 is partitioned into sections including thevideo view section 420, the operation bar 422 and the information bar424. In some embodiments, the display 404 may be partitioned in adifferent number of sections and/or in different formats than the layoutillustrated. In some embodiments, the layout on the display 404 may varydepending on the screen. One or more aspects of the layout for thedisplay 404 are customizable. When the vehicle camera 402 is paired withanother component as part of a vehicle camera system, the layout and/orportions of the layout may change based upon settings of the vehiclecamera system. For example, the operation bar 422 may not be displayedin embodiments of the vehicle camera system using the mobilecommunication device as the user control for the vehicle camera 402.

In this embodiment, the video view section 420 shows the currentlyrecording view of the vehicle camera 402. For example, when the vehiclecamera 402 is a dash camera facing forward, the video view screen 420 isshowing the forward view from the windshield of the vehicle. In someembodiments, the video view screen 420 may be used as a video playbackto show previously recorded video clips. In multi-camera systems, thevideo view screen 420 may be used to show the current camera recordingfrom another camera in the multi-camera system.

The operation bar 422 depicts icons associated with functions of thevehicle camera 402. In this embodiment, each icon in the operation bar422 corresponds with a button 408-414 which is operable to select theoperation indicated by the corresponding icon. The icons shown in thisembodiment may represent a screen on/off operation corresponding tobutton 408, a microphone control operation corresponding to button 410,an image capture operation associated with button 412 and a pause/recordoperation associated with button 414. A user may use the buttons 408-414to control the operations represented by the icons in the operation bar422. For example, actuating the button 408 once will turn the screen offand actuating the button 408 another time will turn the screen on again.Actuating button 410 may mute the audio input, otherwise controloperation of the microphone or alter management of the audio file withinthe vehicle camera 402. Pressing button 412 may cause the vehicle camera402 to save a still image from the video recording at the time thebutton 412 is actuated. Button 412 may operate as a manual control torecord video or pause the recording. As illustrated further herein, theoptions on the operation bar 422 may change and the functions triggeredby buttons 408-414 may change with the icons on the operation bar 422.

The information bar 424 in this embodiment show icons indicating thecurrent status of certain features of the vehicle camera 402. In thisembodiment, the information bar 424 shows, from left to right, arecording indicator, the current time, an active microphone (indicatingthat audio is recording), a wireless connection indicator and a batterycharge indicator. In some embodiments, additional and/or alternativeinformation may be shown in the information bar 424. In someembodiments, the information bar 424 may not be shown on the display404. Alternative output options may provide the status information to auser instead of or in conjunction with the information bar 424. Forexample, a series of LED indicators may be used to indicate recordingstatus and wireless connectivity status of the vehicle camera 402.

FIG. 5 shows another back view of vehicle camera 402 with an alternativevisual output shown on display 404. In this embodiment, the display 404is showing an alert screen 430. As shown, the alert screen 430 indicatesa high threat area approaching. In this embodiment, the alert screen 430shows a variety of information indicating the predicted alert for theapproaching area, including the predicted alert level, type of alert,driving speed and distance to the alert area. In addition, the displayedpredicted alert may vary to show multiple predicted alerts ifapplicable.

First, this alert screen 430 shows the approaching area is designated asa “HIGH THREAT AREA”. In addition to or instead of the words shown, thehigh threat indication may be indicated by the color or background ofthe visual output and/or through an audible output in some embodiments.While the illustrated alert level is a high threat area, alternativethreat levels and designations may be provided. For example, thepredicted alert may be limited to an intermediate or minimal threatlevel. In addition, the background may further indicate the expectedlocation for the threat. For example, the background may highlight theanticipated side of the road for the threat in a brighter shade of thewarning color.

Second, this alert screen 430 shows a radar/laser gun icon to indicatethat the predicted threat relates to a radar/laser speed monitored area.Alternative threats or notices may be indicated by different icons ordisplay characteristics. For example, a red-light camera threat may bedepicted with a red-light icon. For another example, an active policearea may be indicated by a badge icon. Similarly, school areas may beindicated by a child or school bus icon and a hospital may be indicatedwith a red cross icon. If multiple alerts are predicted for theapproaching geographic location(s), the display 404 may show multiplethreat types, alternatively flash each threat type, provide a distincticon to indicate multiple threats and/or otherwise indicate multiplethreats. For example, the alert screen 430 may show a school icon and abadge icon to indicate an active school zone that is likely to have acop present.

Third, the alert screen 430 shows the vehicles current speed of “48mph”. In some embodiments, the alert screen 430 may also show theapplicable speed limit for comparison by the user. In some embodiments,the alert level and/or the warning outputs may be modified based uponthe current vehicle speed and the applicable speed limit. For example,if the speed limit is 50 mph, the background of the alert may be greento indicate that the current driving speed is within the speed limit.For another example, if the speed limit is 25 mph, the background may bea bright red and the display 404 may flash. One skilled in the art willrecognize that the colors and visual effects described herein are forillustrative purposes and do not limit the scope of the disclosure.

Finally, the alert screen 430 indicates the current distance of “100Yards” to the predicted alert area. In some embodiments, the distancemay be the distance between the vehicle and the edge of a general threatarea. In other embodiments, the distance may represent the distancebetween the vehicle and a specific point of interest, such as a knownspeed camera location. The indicated distance may actively update as thevehicle approaches the designated area or point of interest. The initialdistance for providing a warning may be determined based upon anevaluation of the current driving characteristics and location in lightof the alert type and level. In some embodiments, the initial distancefor providing a warning may be designated by user settings of the alertsystem

During operation, the predicted alert and information is provided to thevehicle camera 402 from one or more other components of the vehiclecamera system. For example, a mobile communication device paired withthe vehicle camera 402 may run an alert program in conjunction with aremote server to identify relevant predicted alerts. The mobilecommunication device will monitor the current location of the vehicleand provide the current location to the server. When the currentlocation and heading correspond with a predicted alert for anapproaching geographic area, the server may transmit the predicted alertlevel, the alert type and alert location to the mobile communicationdevice. Concurrently, the mobile communication device is determining orcollecting vehicle speed information. When the predicted alert andinformation is received from the server, the mobile communication devicedetermines a distance to the predicted alert location and transmits thepredicted alert, the current speed information and the distance to thevehicle camera 402 which displays the alert to the user. When the alertis received by the vehicle camera 402, the vehicle camera may also flagthe current video clip and additional clips relating to the predictedalert. In addition, the vehicle camera 402 may also embed additionalinformation—such as the alert, the current speed, the current location,current heading and other information—into the video recording in someembodiments. Alternatively, the additional information may be savedconcurrent with the relevant video clips.

In addition to the alert screen 430, the display 404 also shows anoperation bar 432. Similar to the operation bar 422 discussed above,operation bar 432 provides icons representative of certain operationsassociated with the corresponding buttons 408, 412 and 414. Notably, theoperation bar 432 does not include an icon corresponding to button 410in this embodiment. The icons shown in this embodiment represent optionsrelating to the threat alert. The icon corresponding to button 408represents the option to dismiss the alert. In some embodiments,actuating button 408 will dismiss the alert from all of the connectedcomponents within the vehicle camera system. For example, pressing thebutton 408 turns off the alert displayed on the vehicle camera 402 andsends a signal to the paired mobile communication device and the pairedradar detector to turn off the alert outputs from each device. In someembodiments, actuating button 408 may only turn off the alert outputsfrom vehicle camera 402 allowing the display 404 to return to adifferent operation screen—such as that shown in FIG. 4. In yet otherembodiments, the button 408 may be actuated multiple times wherein thenumber of actuations determines whether the alert or a specific outputindicating the alert is dismissed from the vehicle camera 402 and/orother components.

The icon corresponding to button 412 may allow the user to confirm thatthe predicted alert is accurate. For example, the user may actuate thebutton 412 upon seeing the speed camera device on the side of the roadto confirm that the alert is correct. Upon an actuation of the button412, the vehicle camera 402 may send a confirmation signal to the serverin order to support the predicted alert. In addition, the vehicle camera402 may also transmit a corresponding video file associated with theactuation of the button 412 to the server. The server may then performoptical recognition on the video clip to verify the existence of athreat. If the threat source is identified, the server may confirm theuser's accuracy in providing the confirmation. In addition to updatingthe prediction (if needed), the server may update a profile associatedwith the user to indicate whether the user's confirmation was accurate.Such information may be used to create a credibility profile for eachuser which may be considered during analysis in the server to evaluatethe probability of an alert.

In this embodiment, the icon shown is a representation of a radar/lasergun which corresponds to the threat type indicated in the alert screen430. Similarly, the icon may change to correspond with different threattypes indicated in the alert screen 430. An alternative icon that doesnot necessarily correspond with the threat type may be used to representthe confirmation in some embodiments

The icon corresponding to button 414 may allow the user to indicate thatthe predicted alert is false. For example, the user may actuate thebutton 414 when it is apparent to the user that a threat is not presentat the location. Upon an actuation of the button 414, the vehicle camera402 may send a false alert signal to the server indicating the falsealert user indication. In addition, the vehicle camera 402 may alsotransmit a corresponding video file associated with the actuation of thebutton 414 to the server. The server may then perform opticalrecognition on the video clip to verify the lack of a threat at thelocation. If the false alert indication appears accurate from the videoclip, the server may confirm the user's accuracy in providing the falsealert indication. In addition to updating the prediction (if needed),the server may update a profile associated with the user to indicatewhether the user's confirmation was accurate.

In some embodiments, the server may use the video clips in conjunctionwith the user indications to modify the alert prediction in the server.In some embodiments, the false alert verification through opticalrecognition may be given less weight in an analysis by the dataprocessor than a threat confirmation verified through opticalrecognition. This difference is consistent with the results of theverification because confirming a threat exists provides strong supportfor an alert while the inverse determination is only that a threat wasnot identified in the view provided by the video recording, but a threatmay exist off camera.

FIG. 6 shows another back view of vehicle camera 402 with an alternativevisual output shown on display 404. In this embodiment, the display 404is showing an alert icon 440 in the video view screen 420. In thisembodiment, the alert icon 440 is applied to the video view screen 420on top of the current video feed for vehicle camera 402. In someembodiments, the alert icon 440 is overlaid upon the video view screen420 at a default location.

In some embodiments, the alert icon 440 is applied to the anticipatedlocation of the predicted alert. For example, the alert icon 440 isshown in FIG. 6 within a bubble pointing to an anticipated location forthe predicted alert. In such embodiments, the vehicle camera system mayutilize multiple components to determine the geographic points shown inthe active video feed and correlate the alert icon 440 to the accurategeographic location anticipated for the predicted alert. For example,the current video feed may be sent from the vehicle camera 402 to themobile communication device for evaluation. The mobile communicationdevice may calculate the current position using internal locationcomponents and determine the geographic locations in the video feedusing the current location of the mobile communication device, the scaleof the video, the angle of the video feed, the speed of the vehicleand/or additional information, such as navigation reference pointsprovided by a navigation system. Once the geographic locations in thevideo feed are determined, the mobile communication device may use thegeographic location associated with the predicted alert to identify theposition of the alert icon 440 in the video feed and the video viewscreen 420. The mobile communication device may send the alert icon 440with a position in the video view screen 420 to display the alert icon440 corresponding to the anticipate location of the predicted alert. Themobile communication device may provide updates to the position of thealert icon 440 as the vehicle continues travel. The application of alerticon 440 may be conducted using other processes and/or components insome embodiments.

As shown, the alert icon 440 indicates a predicted threat approaching.The specific alert icon 440 shows a radar/laser gun indicating aradar/laser monitored site. Similar to the alert screen 430 discussedabove, the visual effects, coloring and/or icon design may change toindicate the predicted alert level, the type of alert or notice, thecurrent calculated risk for the driver based upon the current drivingcharacteristics (e.g. comparing current speed to the known speed limitat the threat location) and/or other information relating to the alert.In addition, the alert icon 440 may actively flash between multipleicons indicating different predicted alerts approaching. In someembodiments, additional information may also be overlaid on the videoview screen 420 relating to the predicted alert or current drivingactivity.

During operation, the predicted alert and information may be provided tothe vehicle camera 402 from one or more other components of the vehiclecamera system. For example, a radar detector paired with the vehiclecamera 402 may run an alert program in conjunction with a remote serverto identify relevant predicted alerts. The radar detector may receivethe current location and heading of the vehicle from a navigation unitand provide the current location to the server. When the currentlocation and heading corresponds with a predicted alert for anapproaching geographic area, the server may transmit the predicted alertlevel, the alert type and alert location to the radar detector. When thepredicted alert and information is received from the server, the radardetector transmits the predicted alert to the vehicle camera 402 whichdisplays the alert to the user. When the alert is received by thevehicle camera 402, the vehicle camera may also flag the current videoclip and additional clips relating to the predicted alert. In addition,the vehicle camera 402 may also embed additional information provided tothe vehicle camera 402—such as the alert, the current speed, the currentlocation and other information—into the video recording in someembodiments. Alternatively, the additional information may be savedconcurrent with the relevant video clips.

In addition to the alert icon 440 shown on the video view screen 420,the display 404 also shows the information bar 424 and the operation bar432 discussed further above. As discussed above, the information bar 424provides status information and the operation bar 432 provides optionsof the user relating to the threat alert indicated in the alert icon440. Similarly, in some embodiments, the display 404 may include touchscreen options for the user interface components instead of or inaddition to the buttons 408-414. In such an embodiment, the alert icon440 may also be linked with different information that is accessibleusing the touch screen functionality. For example, touching the display404 at the location of the alert icon 440 may initiate a voice warningto provide the user details of the predicted alert. For another example,touching the display 404 at the location of the alert icon 440 may causethe display 404 to show a threat alert screen with more detail such asthe alert screen 430 shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a vehicle camera system 500 including the vehiclecamera 402 and the mobile communication device 104, each discussedabove. The vehicle camera 402 and the mobile communication device 104are connected using a short-range communication standard in thisembodiment to provide an active exchange of information. In thisembodiment, the vehicle camera 402 includes notice 502 over the videoview screen 420. For illustration, the notice 502 shows a meetingreminder. The notice 502 may operate to provide any notice available tothe video camera system 500.

The meeting reminder may be maintained in a calendar or schedulingfeature in the mobile communication device 104. When paired with thevehicle camera 402, the mobile communication device 104 mayautomatically transmit reminders, notices or other display outputs tothe vehicle camera 402 through a paired communication with the vehiclecamera 402. This operation may be a default setting for the vehiclecamera system 500 or a user selected setting.

In some embodiments, once the reminder is transmitted to the vehiclecamera 402, the notice 502 appears on the display 404 over the videoview screen 420 and the operation bar 432 is displayed. In thisembodiment, the operation bar 432 includes a dismiss icon correspondingto button 408 and a location option corresponding to button 414. If thebutton 408 is pressed in some embodiments, the notice 502 may be removedfrom the video view screen 420 only and remain on any other outputassociated with the reminder, such as the screen 120 of the mobilecommunication device 104. In some embodiments, the dismissal will applyto all of the components in the vehicle camera system 500 and may applyto remote devices associated with the reminder, such as an officecomputer. In some embodiments, the dismiss option will operate as apostpone command, whereby the reminder will reoccur based upon anothertrigger. For example, the reminder may reappear 10 minutes before themeeting. In some embodiments, the postpone option may be presented as aseparate icon in operation bar 432. Alternatively, the video camera 402may treat one actuation of the button 408 as postponing the reminderwhile actuating the button 408 multiple times dismisses the reminder.

In this embodiment, pressing the button 414 will initiate a navigationfeature in the mobile communication device 104 to illustrate thelocation of the scheduled meeting. In some embodiments, the navigationfeature may further provide directions to the location of the meeting.In some embodiments, the vehicle camera system 500 may include anothercomponent with a navigation feature that may be initiated based upon theactuation of button 414 on the vehicle camera 402.

If a location and/or address is not associated with the reminder, theicon corresponding to button 414 may be omitted or replaced with analternative icon. For example, the icon may be replaced with an iconindicating the option for the user to initiate a voice control option toverbally input the location for the meeting and trigger the associatednavigation feature of the mobile communication device 104. In such anembodiment, the verbal input may be received by a microphone in thevehicle camera 402 and/or in a microphone in the mobile communicationdevice 104.

In this embodiment, the mobile communication device 104 shows a map 504on the display 120. A location point 506 is located on the map 504 toindicate the location of the scheduled meeting indicated in notice 502on the vehicle camera 402. A direction layout may also be applied to themap 504 illustrating the directions from the current location of thevehicle to the location point 506 associated with the meeting location.Additional direction and travel information, including travelinstructions, estimated time to the location point 506, traffic warningsand other information may be provided to the user via the mobilecommunication device 104, the vehicle camera 402 and/or anotherconnected component in the vehicle.

During operation, information is actively exchanged within the vehiclecamera system 500 to facilitate operations of the components in thevehicle camera system 500, including the vehicle camera 402 and themobile communication device 104. In the embodiment shown, a feature ofthe mobile communication device 104 triggers a scheduled meetingreminder. The mobile communication device 104 packages the informationfor the meeting reminder and transmits the instructions to the vehiclecamera 402 to display the notice 502. When packaging the information fortransmission, the mobile communication device 104 may provide only theappropriate information for the notice 502 and to indicate theappropriate icons for operation bar 432. For example, the package mayinclude a reminder flag to indicate the type of transmission, the output“REMINDER: 2:00 Meeting Scheduled”, and location flag to indicate thatthere is an address associated with the reminder in the mobilecommunication device 104. Limiting the information provided to thevehicle camera 402 may increase the efficiency of the transmission andprocessing in the vehicle camera 402.

Once the vehicle camera 402 receives the reminder package from themobile communication device 104, the vehicle camera 402 displays thenotice 502 and the modified operation bar 432 for the user.Concurrently, the mobile communication device 104, the vehicle camera402 and/or another connected vehicle component may provide an audiblenotice to the user indicating the reminder. The user may then actuatebutton 408 or button 414 based upon the received reminder. If the userselects the button 414, the vehicle camera 402 transmits a signal to themobile communication device 104 to initiate the navigation feature. Themobile communication device 104 uses the location provided in theoriginal reminder feature of the mobile communication device 104 todetermine and display the map 504 and the location point 506.

The user interface components of the vehicle camera 402 and mobilecommunication device 104 may also be utilized to provide additionalinstructions and options relating to the meeting reminder and/or thenavigation feature. For example, after initiating the navigationfeature, the vehicle camera 402 may show a directions icon option in theoperation bar 432 to allow the user to initiate the directions option inthe navigation feature.

In some embodiments, the vehicle camera system 500 may be implemented tofacilitate other system options consistent with the connected componentsof the vehicle camera system 500. For example, the vehicle camera system500 may facilitate a conference call reminder wherein the vehicle camera402 provides the reminder in notice 502 and the operations bar 432 showsan icon, such as a phone, to allow the user to initiate the scheduledconference call over mobile communication device 104. In someembodiments, the vehicle camera system 500 may also utilize themicrophone and/or speaker of the vehicle camera 402 to facilitate theconference call. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera system 500 isoperable to prioritize the microphone and speakers of the connectedcomponents to use in facilitating the conference call based upon thebest acoustic qualities for the call. In such an embodiment, the vehiclecamera system 500 may utilize the microphone in the vehicle camera 402and the speaker system of the vehicle and/or any other combination ofavailable components.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the vehicle camera system 500. Inthis embodiment, the vehicle camera 402 shown is the same as the vehiclecamera 402 shown in FIG. 4 and described above. The mobile communicationdevice 104 in this embodiment, illustrates the display 120 withpartitioned sections. Specifically, the top of display 120 shows a videoview screen 510 showing the current video feed from the vehicle camera402. In this embodiment, the video view screen 510 is showing the sameview as that shown in the video view screen 420 on the vehicle camera402. In some embodiments, engaging the video view screen 510 on themobile communication device 104 will initiate an instruction to turn offvideo view screen 420 or modify the video view screen 420 on the vehiclecamera 402. In some embodiments having multiple vehicle cameras 402, thevideo view screen 510 may display a current video feed from any of theconnected vehicle cameras 402. In some embodiments, the video viewscreen 510 may show a delayed video feed from the vehicle camera 402and/or operate to provide a playback of a stored video clip.

In this embodiment, the display 120 also shows a control screen 512including touch screen controls 514-524 to manage features of thevehicle camera system 500. One skilled in the art will recognize thatthe controls 514-524 shown in this control screen 512 are illustrativeand the control screen 512 and the controls 514-524 may be modified inother embodiments and remain within the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera 402 mayautomatically change modes of operation based upon a connection to themobile communication device 104. For example, the vehicle camera 402 maydisplay an indicator representing the detected presence of the mobilecommunication device 104 and default to the use of settings and controlsprovided by the mobile communication device 104. For another example,the vehicle camera 402 may automatically send video feeds to the mobilecommunication device 104 for display, storage, processing and/or otheroperations and the vehicle camera 402 may use an internal buffer tocollect and send the video feed without using the looping process on thecamera memory. In such a design, all video clips may be automaticallydeleted once they are transmitted to the mobile communication device104. In some embodiments, the image files or other video clips areautomatically deleted from the memory of the vehicle camera 402 whenthey are transmitted to another device from the vehicle camera 402.

In this embodiment, the touch screen controls include a snapshot button514, a record button 516, an invert button 518, a microphone button 520,a pause button 522 and a settings button 524. The snapshot button 514may operate to take a still image from the video recording image shownin video view screen 510. In some embodiments, the record button 516 mayoperate to control the recording of the video shown in video view screen510. For example, the video feed shown in video view screen 510 may bestored in a looping section of memory that will be overwritten. When therecord button 516 is active, the video feed will be saved (or moved) toa non-looping section of memory and will not be overwritten. In someembodiments, the record button 516 will also operate as a pause or stopbutton to stop the active recording. In such an embodiment, the icon in516 may toggle between options depending on the current status of thebutton 516.

In some embodiments, the invert button 518 may operate to invert thevisual output shown in sections of the display 404 on the vehicle camera402. As discussed above, inverting output on the display 404 may includerearranging the layout of the sections shown to maintain thecorresponding relationship between icons in the operation bar and thebuttons 408-414. In some embodiments, the invert button 518 may invertthe video feed shown in the video view screen 510.

The microphone button 520 may operate to select which microphone in thevehicle camera system 500 will be used to record audio in conjunctionwith the video feed. In some embodiments, the microphone button 520 maybe operable to mute and/or activate the microphone of the vehicle camera402. In some embodiments, the microphone button 520 may operate as apost processing control to modify the audio associated with the videorecording shown in video view screen 510. For example, during a reviewof a video recording in video view screen 510 the user pressesmicrophone button 520 to remove the audio of a private conversation fromthe recording.

In the embodiment shown, the pause button 522 is operable to pause thecurrent recording. In some embodiments, the pause button 522 is designedto pause the video feed shown in the video view screen 510. Inembodiments facilitating playback of video clips, the pause button 522may toggle between a pause and play icon to allow a user to stop andstart the video playback.

The settings button 524 is operable to open a screen, window or otherview facilitating control of customizable settings for the vehiclecamera 402, the vehicle camera system 500, features in the mobilecommunication device 104 and/or one or more additional connectedcomponents. For example, the settings button 524 may open a control pageto establish settings for communicating predicted alerts, notices andother information to a user via one or more connected in-vehiclecomponents. For another example, the settings page may allow the user tomodify position of the vehicle camera 402 using electromechanicalelements to rotate the vehicle camera 402, adjust the vertical angle ofthe vehicle camera 402 and/or otherwise change the camera view. For yetanother example, the settings page opened using the settings button 524may allow a user to control the information exchanged betweencomponents, such as geographic locations, current time for the location,vehicle characteristics and other information.

In some embodiments, a user's preferred settings for vehicle camera 402are stored in the mobile communication device 104. When the mobilecommunication device 104 initiates communication with the vehicle camera402, the vehicle camera 402 applies the settings provided by the mobilecommunication device 104. In such embodiments, the mobile communicationdevice 104 may operate to provide the user's preferred settings toadditional vehicle cameras 402. For example, a user may pair the mobilecommunication device 104 to set up a new vehicle camera 402 with theuser's preferred settings. For another example, the user may usemultiple vehicles with separate vehicle cameras 402, and each vehiclecamera 402 will apply the user's settings when the user's mobilecommunication device 104 pairs with the vehicle camera 402 in thespecific vehicle. In addition, embodiments of the vehicle camera 402 maybe pair with different mobile communication devices 104 and adapt theuser preferences associated with the currently paired mobilecommunication device 104. In some embodiments, a user's preferredsettings for vehicle camera 402 are maintained as part of an accountassociated with the user. When a vehicle camera 402 is associated with auser account, the vehicle camera 402 may adopt the user's preferredsettings provided in the user account. In some embodiments, the useraccount may be associated with the vehicle camera 402 through a user'smobile communication device 104. In some embodiments, the settings formultiple components in a vehicle camera system 500 will adopt thesettings stored on the mobile communication device 104 and/or a useraccount similar to the vehicle camera 402 discussed above. For example,an electromagnetic signal detector and a vehicle information system mayadopt the settings provided in the mobile communication device 104.

In some embodiments, the settings button 524 facilitates the display ofcurrent settings associated with the operation of the vehicle camera402. For example, touching the settings button 524 may open a pageshowing the settings of vehicle camera 402, such as light settings,motion settings, filter settings and other settings. In someembodiments, the vehicle camera system 500 operates to automaticallyadjust the settings of the vehicle camera 402. For example, the motionsettings of the vehicle camera 402 may be automatically controlled basedupon the current speed of the vehicle. For another example, the lightsettings, such as daytime, night time, sunrise, sunset and other lightsettings, may be automatically controlled based upon a current time anddate for the current location of the vehicle camera 402 and the currentweather at the location of the vehicle camera 402. For yet anotherexample, the current light settings may be based upon the vehicleheading and light sensors associated with the vehicle's lightingcontrols. Filter settings may also be based upon navigation featureinformation to evaluate anticipated scenery types.

In some embodiments, the control screen 512 may include one or morebuttons to facilitate editing of a video recording. Embodiments of thevehicle camera 402 may also include editing options. In someembodiments, editing a video recording allows a user to shorten,compress and/or otherwise decrease the size of a video recording toimprove the efficiency of transferring the video recording. In someembodiments, the editing option will allow a user to limit the video tospecific images of interest for sharing and/or further review andanalysis.

In some embodiments, another mobile communication device 104 may beremotely located and receive the video feed from another vehicle camerasystem. For example, a parent may set the vehicle camera 402 to transmitthe video feed in real-time to a remote server wherein the video feed isavailable to a remote device to monitor a child's driving. In someembodiments, the system is designed to allow a remote user with systemadministrator rights to assume control of the vehicle camera 402,including the operation controls such as those shown in the controlscreen 512. For example, an owner of the vehicle may remotely assumecontrol of the camera when the vehicle is missing to initiate a videorecording and collection of relevant driving data. In some embodiments,the controls and the mounting components of the vehicle camera 402 mayfurther allow the remote user to rotate the vehicle camera 402 tocapture additional images, such as a recording of the driver.

FIG. 9 depicts mobile communication device 104 showing an illustrativesettings page allowing the user of mobile communication device 104 tocontrol the settings of the vehicle camera system. One skilled in theart will recognize that the illustrative setting options shown insettings screen 602 may be modified in other embodiments and remainwithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure. In this embodiment, thesettings screen 602 includes an automatic launch control 604, an alertaudio control 606, an alert video control 608, and a duration control610.

In this embodiment, the automatic launch control 604 is a touch-screenbutton which shows the current selection in the view of a toggle switch.For example, as shown the automatic launch feature of the application is“off”. If the automatic launch control 604 is touched, the automaticlaunch control 604 may shift the depicted circular portion to the rightand indicate the feature is “on”. One skilled in the art will recognizethat the user interface options for controlling the operation of theapplication features of the vehicle camera system may vary and remainwithin the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The automatic launchfeature may be designed to initiate execution of an application and/orengagement of a component associated with the vehicle camera systembased upon a triggering event. In some embodiments, the triggering eventmay include entering the operative range of another component of thesystems (e.g. a vehicle camera, an electromagnetic signal detector, avehicle, a navigation unit, etc.), a detected vehicle operation (e.g. athreshold speed, sudden change in acceleration, etc.), entering alocation associated with a specified notice, alert type or thresholdalert level, a change in the vehicle camera view (e.g. a person entersthe camera view, the vehicle moves changing the camera view, etc.)and/or other triggering events.

In some embodiments, the automatic launch feature applies to launchingthe entire application and/or corresponding applications and equipmentin other operatively associated applications and/or components of thevehicle camera system disclosed herein. In some embodiments, theautomatic launch feature may apply to any one or more portions of theapplication and/or corresponding applications and equipment in otheroperatively associated applications and/or components of the vehiclecamera system disclosed herein. In such embodiments, when automaticlaunch control 604 is “on”, additional detailed automatic launchcontrols may be provided for selecting which aspects of the system willbe automatically launched. For example, the mobile communication device104 may be associated with a car diagnostic system which may beautomatically launched to record car diagnostics upon a sudden change inacceleration meeting a set threshold. In addition, the mobilecommunication device 104 may receive the corresponding video clipassociated with the sudden change in acceleration and embed the cardiagnostic information into the video file. In some embodiments, thedisplay of user controls and selections may vary and remain within thescope and spirit of the disclosure.

The alert audio control 606 and the alert video control 608 are shown inthis embodiment as touch-screen buttons which display the options forselection and highlight the current selection for the user. In theembodiment shown, the alert audio control 606 allows a user to set thevehicle camera system to provide the audio output through the automobileand/or the phone (i.e. the mobile communication device 104 in thisembodiment). The alert video control 608 allows a user to set thevehicle camera system to provide the video output through the vehiclecamera and/or the phone (i.e. the mobile communication device 104) inthis embodiment.

In some embodiments, the alert audio control 606 and/or the alert videocontrol 608 may comprise two or more buttons, wherein each button isassociated with a selectable option. In such embodiments, theapplication may limit the selection to one option (i.e. the last optionselected) or may allow for multiple concurrent selections. For example,a user of mobile communication device 104 may use alert audio control606 to select both auto and phone causing any audio alerts to beprovided over both the vehicle speakers and the speaker 124. In someembodiments, the control may expand to include additional optionalcomponents having audible outputs, such as a vehicle camera, anelectromagnetic signal detector and/or another component. In someembodiments, the alert audio control 606 and/or the alert video control608 may comprise a button which depicts only the current setting, andprovides a different indication of a selected setting each time thecontrol 606 or 608 is toggled. In some embodiments, the selection in onecontrol may determine and/or limit the options provided by anothercontrol.

In this embodiment, the duration control 610 is shown as a slide controlto allow the user to adjust the duration of the alert. In someembodiments, alternative duration controls may work in conjunction withor instead of duration control 610. For example, the duration control610 may establish a default duration for an alert and another controlmay allow the user to modify the default duration based upon thepredicted alert level.

FIG. 10 depicts a mobile communication device as a tablet 702. In thisembodiment, the tablet 702 includes a display 704, a button 706 and aspeaker 708 shown in this view. The tablet may also include amicrophone, a camera, input/output ports, user controls and/or otherelements. In some embodiments, the tablet 702 may include alternativecontrols and/or elements instead of or in addition to those shown inFIG. 10. Some embodiments of the tablet 702 may include multipledisplays 704, buttons 706, speakers 708 and/or other elements.

In this embodiment, the output shown on the display 704 is a videoplayback output which shows additional information correlated with therecorded video clip. As discussed above, the vehicle camera system mayidentify a variety of information and correlate the information with aconcurrently recorded video. The information may be derived from one ormore components in the vehicle camera system and stored in conjunctionwith a saved video file. In some embodiments, the additional data isembedded in the video recording. In this embodiment, the output on thedisplay 704 is partitioned to show the different information inconjunction with the video. The partitioned sections in this embodimentinclude a video screen 710, a scroll bar 714, a control bar 716, aninformation screen 718, an information bar 720 and a map 722.

In this embodiment, the video screen 710 is showing a video feed from adash camera in a vehicle. In some embodiments, the video screen 710 maybe partitioned to show multiple camera feeds simultaneously. Theadditional camera feeds may be from the same vehicle and/or from othercameras. For example, the video screen 710 may show video from a dashcamera and a cabin camera from one vehicle, a vehicle camera fromanother vehicle and a storefront camera. Each of the camera feeds may becorrelated to provide a synchronous view from multiple angles. In someembodiments, the data processor associated with the server synchronizesthe video feeds.

The video screen 710 includes a time stamp 712. The time stamp 712 maybe embedded in the video recording at a default location, such as thelower left side shown. Alternatively, the time stamp 712 may be embeddedin the video recording as an optional piece of information for display.In such embodiments, the settings of the playback application, whetherdefault or user selected, may define whether the time stamp 712 is shownand where the time stamp is shown in the video screen 710. In someembodiments, the playback application may automatically determine theplacement of the time stamp 712 based upon an analysis of the video.

In the vehicle camera system, the time provided for time stamp 712 maybe derived from the mobile communication device in the vehicle and/oranother device operable to determine the present location of the vehicleand correlate the accurate time applicable to the specific locationbased upon a time zone analysis. In addition, the device may confirmthat daylight savings (if applicable) and/or other time-shiftingconsiderations are considered to determine the correct time. The mobilecommunication device may provide the accurate time to the vehicle cameraand other connected components. The components may utilize the timeprovided by the mobile communication device in order to sync theinformation from multiple devices when combined in a single videorecording.

In this embodiment, the scroll bar 714 provides a representation of thecurrent point in the recording relative to the entire length of therecording. As the video plays, the indicator in the scroll bar 714 willcontinue to move along the scroll bar 714 in this embodiment. In someembodiments including a touch screen control option, the user may slidethe indicator along the scroll bar 714 to change the point in the videoshown in the video screen 710.

In this embodiment, the control bar 716 provides options for controllingthe recording play back. The control bar 716 includes a current timeview showing the time associated with the current point in the recordingwhich may be used to select a given time within the recording. Forexample, a user may press the current time to open a pop-up allowing theuser to enter a new time. When the time is confirmed, the recordingplayback will jump the selected time. The control bar 716 in thisembodiment also includes controls to pause, stop and play the recording.In some embodiments, the skip buttons shown may operate to jump forwardand backward to specific points flagged in the recording. For example,the vehicle camera system may place flags in a video at points when analert is received from the mobile communication device, the vehicleabruptly decelerates, a user alert confirmation is received, the vehiclereaccelerates and/or a spike in the audio. In some embodiments, the skipbuttons operate to jump by a set amount of time, such as 15 secondintervals. In some embodiments, the skip buttons operate to jump to thenext clip in a series of video clips. The control bar 716 also showsvolume control options for the video playback and the option to maximizethe video screen in this embodiment. In some embodiments, the optionsprovided in the control bar 716 may vary and alternative controls may beincluded.

The information screen 718 shown in this embodiment includes a graphillustration showing the vehicle speed along the length of the videowith a cursor indicating the point along the graph corresponding to thevideo showing in video screen 710. In some embodiments, additionalinformation may also be provided in the same graph. For example, theinformation screen 718 may show multiple concurrent graphs regardingdifferent vehicle information, such as the G-Force of the vehicle, andother related information, such as predicted alert levels, weatherinformation, audio information and other information. In someembodiments, the information screen 718 may illustrate data in otherformats than the graph shown. For example, the information screen 718may include a series of display sections that digitally provide the datacorresponding to the point in time of the video showing in video screen710. The information screen 718 may show a speed, a G-Force, a location,an alert indicator, a heading and/or other information.

In this embodiment, the information bar 720 identifies relevantinformation regarding the vehicle travel shown in the video screen 710.One skilled in the art will recognize that the categories provided areillustrative and do not limit scope of the disclosure. In someembodiments, the data illustrated on the information screen 718 may beselected from the options identified in the information bar 720. In someembodiments, the data corresponding to each category identified ininformation bar 720 will be displayed adjacent to the category title.For example, the vehicle speed may be shown digitally next to the word“SPEED”. In some embodiments, the information for each category will bedisplayed without the category name. For example, the word “LOCATION”may be replaced with a latitude and longitude corresponding to thelocation of the vehicle as shown in the video screen 710. In someembodiments, visual effects may be applied to one or more of thecategories and/or backgrounds to provide information to the user. Forexample, the word “ALERTS” may change appearance based upon the currentalert level associated with the location of the vehicle in the video.For another example, the background for the word “SPEED” may changecolor to indicate whether the vehicle is speeding in the video or withinthe appropriate speed limit. Each of the visual effects and outputoptions may be controlled through one or more settings options. Inaddition, the threshold for certain information may be defined forcontrolling visual effects. For example, the user may set the speedindicator show a warning if the vehicle is traveling more than 4 MPHover the speed limit. For another example, the user may set the alertoption to only activate when there is a high level alert and the vehicleis speeding.

This embodiment also includes the map 722 illustrating the location ofthe vehicle corresponding to the video play back. As the video plays,the vehicle location indicator will move along the map 722 inconjunction with the vehicle's path of travel. In some embodiments, thepath of the vehicle may be illustrated on the map 722. The pathillustration may indicate the path of travel for the entire videosegment or a portion thereof. For example, the map 722 may only show thepath remaining for the video segment. Alternatively, the map 722 mayonly show the path travelled up to the current point in the videosegment. In some embodiments, the map 722 may illustrate a selectednavigation path from a navigation component. In such cases, the map 722may also illustrate the path taken by a vehicle. Comparisons of theselected navigation path and the actual navigation path may be analyzedby the server and reviewed by a system user. For example, a parent mayreview inconsistent travel paths and the corresponding videos. Foranother example, a company supervisor may review inconsistent travelpaths of a company vehicle.

The current heading of the vehicle is also shown in a compass 724. Thecompass 724 may rotate to indicate the actual heading on the map 722 insome embodiments. In some embodiments, the compass 724 and/or headingmay be shown in another section of the output of display 704. Forexample, the compass 724 may be shown in the video screen 710. Inanother example, the heading may be provided in the information bar 720.

In this embodiment, the video screen 710 and the map 722 are synced suchthat the dot on the map 722 corresponds with the location of the vehiclein the video shown in video screen 710. In some embodiments, theinformation screen 718 may also be synced with the video screen 710 andthe map 722. In the synced embodiments, the controls operate to changethe information output on each of the screens to maintainsynchronization in the outputs. In some embodiments, the outputs are notin a locked synchronization and each screen may be independentlymanipulated. In such embodiments, secondary indicators, such as visualeffects and audible effects, may indicate a time overlap in thedifferent screens. For example, the user may set a flag for theinformation screen 718 to flash when the video shown in the video screen710 reaches a selected change in speed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of process 800. Theprocess 800 may be a method executed by the vehicle camera systemsdescribed above and/or a computer program product to provide predictionsusing the vehicle camera display of an in-vehicle camera system.

In box 802, a prediction of an alert is received by a mobilecommunication device via a first communication standard. For example,the mobile communication device receives data that indicates a predictedalert from a server over the cellular communication network.

In box 804, the mobile communication device transmits the prediction ofthe alert to a vehicle camera via a second communication standard. Forexample, the mobile communication device sends data regarding the alertprediction to the vehicle camera over the BLUETOOTH communicationstandard.

Boxes 806 and 808 illustrate optional steps, as indicated by the brokenlines, in the process based upon the receipt of the predicted alert databy the vehicle camera. In box 806, the vehicle camera may automaticallylock the applicable video and/or audio recording for a set amount oftime. For example, the vehicle camera may lock the video and audiorecordings covering the time from 15 seconds prior to the receipt of thepredicted alert data through the next two (2) minutes. In someembodiments, the set amount of time may be established in a defaultsetting for the vehicle camera system. Embodiments may facilitate usercustomization to set the amount of time for the recording information tobe locked.

In box 808, the vehicle camera may automatically embed an alert flag inthe applicable video and/or audio recording. For example, the vehiclecamera may embed an alert flag into the recording file having the timeof the alert. In some embodiments, the flag may be used for initiatingan alert prediction analysis using optical recognition of the video bythe data processor associated with the server. In some embodiments, theflag increases the efficiency for identifying applicable videos and/ordates for further processing or review in the event a review iswarranted. For example, the user may pull the video recordings foranalysis following the receipt of a speeding ticket in the area of thealert to determine if the driver was actually speeding at the time ofthe incident.

In box 810, the output provided on the vehicle camera display ismodified to communicate the prediction of an alert to a user of thevehicle camera. For example, the vehicle camera may display an alertindicator in the vehicle camera display, such as the alerts shown inFIGS. 5 and 6. The display may also be modified using other visualeffects to indicate an alert. For example, the alert may cause analternate hue to be shown on the video in the display to indicate analert level.

Boxes 812 and 814 illustrate optional steps, as indicated by the brokenlines, in the process. In box 812, the vehicle camera receives a userinput confirming or denying the alert. For example, a user may press abutton on the vehicle camera confirming an alert that indicates a redlight camera. For another example, the vehicle camera microphone mayreceive a user's verbal statement the alert was false.

In box 814, the vehicle camera transmits the user input and/or the videoand/or audio recording via the second communication standard to themobile communication device. For example, the vehicle camera may sendthe user confirmation input and the video recording to the mobilecommunication device via the BLUETOOTH communication standard. In someembodiments, the mobile communication device may further process theinformation from the vehicle camera and/or send the information to aremote server for further processing.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of process 900. Theprocess 900 may be a method executed by the vehicle camera systemsdescribed above and/or a computer program product to facilitate alertprediction analysis using a vehicle camera system.

In box 902, an electromagnetic signal detection is received from anelectromagnetic signal detector via a first communication standard. Forexample, the mobile communication device receives a radar signaldetection from a radar detector over a ZIGBEE communication standard.For another example, the vehicle camera receives a radar signaldetection from a radar detector over a ZIGBEE communication standard.

In box 904, the vehicle camera video recording is flagged for a set timeoverlapping the electromagnetic signal detection. For example, thevehicle camera embeds a flag in a video recording which lasts three (3)minutes beginning 30 seconds prior to the signal detection. In someembodiments, the set amount of time may be established in a defaultsetting for the vehicle camera system. Embodiments may facilitate usercustomization to set the amount of time for the recording information tobe flagged. In some embodiments, the vehicle camera storage systemprioritizes the flagged video recording over other recordings that arenot flagged and/or locked whereby the recordings that are not flagged orlocked will be overwritten prior to the flagged recording.

In box 906, the vehicle camera may transmit the video recording via thefirst communication standard to a mobile communication device. Forexample, the vehicle camera sends the video recording to a user's mobilephone over the ZIGBEE communication standard.

In box 908, the vehicle camera may remove the flag from the copy of thevideo recording stored in the vehicle camera. For example, the vehiclecamera may change the status of the video recording to remove the flagstatus after the video is transferred to the mobile communicationdevice. Once the flag is removed, the video recording may not receivepriority in the vehicle camera's storage system and will be overwrittenbased upon other default patterns, such as age of the recording, inorder with other recordings that are not flagged or locked.

In box 910, the vehicle system transmits the vehicle camera's videorecording and the electromagnetic signal detection information via asecond communication standard to a server. For example, after receivingthe video recording and the electromagnetic signal detection, the mobilecommunication device may transmit the video recording and signaldetection information to a remote server via a wide-area communicationnetwork. For another example, the mobile communication device maytransmit the video recording to a remote server via a satellitecommunication network and the vehicle may transmit the electromagneticsignal detection using an integrated cellular communication element tothe same remote server.

In box 912, the vehicle camera's video recording is analyzed todetermine a likely source of the detected electromagnetic signal usingvideo recognition. For example, the server may conduct an opticalrecognition analysis of the video recording to identify potentialsources of the detected electromagnetic signal and based upon acomparison of the detected signal data to the potential sources of thedetected signal determine the likely source of the signal. In someembodiments, the server may include a database of known signal sources,including mobile signal sources and fixed signal sources. The databasemay also include a database of known false signals and/or signal sourcesassociated with false alert features, such as automatic doors atbusiness establishments, and other known geographic features indicativeof false alerts. During optical recognition analysis, the server mayidentify business establishments known to use false alert sources andevaluate whether the detected signal may correlate to the known signalsassociated with the business establishment. As another example, theoptical recognition analysis may identify a fixed speed monitoring unitor a police vehicle that may be associated with the detected signal.

In box 914, the system may modify a prediction of an alert level basedupon the likely source of the electromagnetic signal. For example, theserver may lower the prediction of an alert level based on adetermination that the detected signal was received near a known falsealert signal source, such as a business establishment, and the signal isconsistent with the likely false alert source. For another example, theprediction of an alert may increase where the server identifies a policeradar unit at the location of the detected signal and the detectedsignal is consistent with the type of signal generated by the policeradar unit. The modified predication may be used to provide alerts tothe original vehicle camera system user and user of other devicesassociated with the alert prediction feature of the server.

The processes 800 and 900 illustrate operations of the vehicle camerasystem. Additional operations may be facilitated using the vehiclecamera system components to exchange information. For example,embodiments of the vehicle camera system may operate to provide vehicleoversight systems for businesses, parents and others. For example, aparent may set the vehicle camera system to save video feeds when thevehicle deviates from selected navigation paths and/or travel times, andthe parent may then review the video feed to see where the vehicletraveled. Similarly, a company may monitor company vehicle travel toensure the company vehicle is not misused. For example, the supervisormay review the video of an unscheduled stop for a company car todetermine if the driver stopped for an unapproved personal stop or toget lunch.

The invention being thus described and further described in the claims,it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Suchvariations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit andscope of the invention and all such modifications as would be obvious toone skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope ofthe system and method described.

1. A system for use in a vehicle including a vehicle camera thatinterfaces with a mobile communication device that is separate from thevehicle camera, the system comprising: the vehicle camera comprising: a)a camera display that provides a visual output, b) an imaging component,which captures at least one image and creates an image file, c) a memorycomponent designed to electronically store the image file, and d) acamera communication element configured to communicate over ashort-range communication standard; and the mobile communication devicecomprising: a) a user interface that receives inputs from a user andcommunicates information to the user, b) a short-range communicationelement configured to communicate over the short-range communicationstandard, wherein the short-range communication element communicateswith the camera communication element over the short-range communicationstandard, and c) a wide-area communication element configured tocommunicate over a wide-area communication standard; and wherein themobile communication device exchanges data with the vehicle camera,wherein a geographic location of the vehicle camera is compiled with theimage file to create a location identified image file, and wherein thelocation identified image file includes a timestamp, wherein the datacomprises a prediction of an alert level associated with the geographiclocation of the vehicle camera, and wherein the camera displaycommunicates the prediction to the user, and wherein the mobilecommunication device receives the prediction from a remote server overthe wide-area communication standard and communicates the prediction tothe vehicle camera over the short-range communication standard, andwherein the prediction is generated based on an analysis of a pluralityof data entries associated with the geographic location of the vehiclecamera.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote server analyzes theplurality of data entries associated with the geographic location of thevehicle camera.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the locationidentified image file is analyzed with optical recognition to identifyat least one of a potential threat and/or a potential false alertsource.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the analysis is initiated byan input received by the user interface.
 5. The system of claim 3,wherein the remote server applies the optical recognition to a pluralityof recorded images from a plurality of imaging sources.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the mobile communication device comprises a locationdetermination component configured to determine the geographic location.7. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle camera is integrated withan electromagnetic signal detector comprising a signal detectioncomponent that detects at least one of a radar signal and/or a lasersignal emitted by speed measurement equipment.
 8. A system for use in avehicle including a vehicle camera that interfaces with a mobilecommunication device that is separate from the vehicle camera, thesystem comprising: the vehicle camera comprising: a) a camera displaythat provides a visual output, wherein the camera display communicatesto a user a prediction of an alert level associated with a geographiclocation, b) an imaging component, which captures at least one image andcreates an image file, c) a memory component designed to electronicallystore the image file, d) a short-range camera communication elementconfigured to communicate over a short-range communication standard, ande) a wide-area camera communication element configured to communicateover a wide-area communication standard; and the mobile communicationdevice comprising: a) a user interface that receives inputs from theuser and communicates information to the user, b) a short-rangecommunication element configured to communicate over the short-rangecommunication standard, wherein the short-range communication elementcommunicates with the short-range camera communication element over theshort-range communication standard, and c) a location determinationcomponent configured to determine the geographic location; and whereinthe mobile communication device exchanges data with the vehicle camera,wherein the data comprises the geographic location, wherein thegeographic location is compiled with the image file to create a locationidentified image file, and wherein the location identified image fileincludes a timestamp, and wherein the vehicle camera receives theprediction from a remote server over the wide-area communicationstandard and wherein the prediction is generated based on an analysis ofa plurality of data entries associated with the geographic location. 9.The system of claim 8, further comprising the vehicle having a vehiclecommunication element configured to communicate over the short-rangecommunication standard and a vehicle information system comprisingvehicle operation data.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the pluralityof data entries comprises the location identified image file, andwherein the remote server applies optical recognition to the locationidentified image file to identify at least one of a potential threatand/or a potential false alert source.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the remote server applies the optical recognition to a pluralityof the location identified image files which are from a plurality ofimaging sources.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the remote serversynchronizes the plurality of the location identified image files basedon the geographic location and the timestamp included in each of thelocation identified image files.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein theremote server transmits the prediction automatically based on thegeographic location.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the vehiclecamera is integrated with an electromagnetic signal detector comprisinga signal detection component that detects at least one of a radar signaland/or a laser signal emitted by speed measurement equipment.
 15. Avehicle camera that interfaces with an external device that is separatefrom the vehicle camera, the vehicle camera comprising: a) a userinterface that receives inputs from a user and communicates informationto the user, b) an imaging component, which captures video, c) a memorycomponent designed to electronically store the video, and d) acommunication element configured to communicate over a communicationstandard, wherein the communication element communicates with theexternal device over the communication standard; and  wherein thevehicle camera is designed without a location determination capabilityand the vehicle camera receives a geographic location and a timestampfrom the external device over the communication standard and compilesthe geographic location and the timestamp with the video to generate avideo file, and  wherein the vehicle camera receives a prediction of analert level associated with the geographic location from a remote serverand the user interface communicates the prediction to the user, whereinthe vehicle camera receives the prediction indirectly through theexternal device which receives the prediction over a wide-areacommunication standard and communicates the prediction to the vehiclecamera over the communication standard, and  wherein the remote serveranalyzes a data entry associated with the geographic location togenerate the prediction.
 16. The vehicle camera of claim 15, wherein thedata entry comprises the video file and the remote server appliesoptical recognition to the video file to identify at least one of apotential threat and/or a potential false alert source.
 17. The vehiclecamera of claim 15, wherein the external device is a mobilecommunication device.
 18. The vehicle camera of claim 15, wherein theremote server provides instructions to the vehicle camera, wherein theinstructions control operations of the vehicle camera.
 19. The vehiclecamera of claim 18, wherein the remote server provides the instructionsbased on the geographic location.
 20. The vehicle camera of claim 18,wherein the remote server provides the instructions based on theprediction.
 21. The vehicle camera of claim 15, wherein the vehiclecamera is integrated with an electromagnetic signal detector comprisinga signal detection component that detects at least one of a radar signaland/or a laser signal emitted by speed measurement equipment.
 22. Avehicle camera that interfaces with a mobile communication device thatis separate from the vehicle camera, the vehicle camera comprising: a) auser interface that receives inputs from a user and communicatesinformation to the user, b) an imaging component, which captures video,c) a memory component designed to electronically store the video, and d)a communication element configured to communicate over a communicationstandard, wherein the communication element communicates with the mobilecommunication device over the communication standard; and  wherein thevehicle camera receives a geographic location and a timestamp from themobile communication device over the communication standard and compilesthe geographic location and the timestamp with the video to generate avideo file; and  wherein the vehicle camera further comprises anautomatic upload mode, wherein the video file is automaticallytransmitted to a remote server upon receipt of a critical trigger whilein the automatic upload mode.
 23. The vehicle camera of claim 22,wherein the critical trigger comprises at least one of a G-Forcethreshold, a vehicle diagnostic trigger, a safety trigger, a personentering the camera view and/or a theft event trigger.
 24. The vehiclecamera of claim 23, wherein the safety trigger comprises at least one ofan impact trigger, an airbag deployment trigger, a lane departure and/ora distance to object trigger.
 25. The vehicle camera of claim 22,wherein the video file is analyzed with optical recognition to identifya potential threat and the critical trigger is initiated when thepotential threat is identified.
 26. The vehicle camera of claim 22,wherein the remote server stores the video file in a database uponreceipt.
 27. The vehicle camera of claim 22, wherein the remote serveranalyzes the video file upon receipt.
 28. The vehicle camera of claim27, wherein the remote server determines whether an emergency responseis needed based on the analysis.
 29. The vehicle camera of claim 28,wherein the remote server initiates a call for the emergency responsebased on the determination.
 30. The vehicle camera of claim 22, whereinthe vehicle camera is integrated with an electromagnetic signal detectorcomprising a signal detection component that detects at least one of aradar signal and/or a laser signal emitted by speed measurementequipment.
 31. The vehicle camera of claim 30, wherein the criticaltrigger comprises a detection of the at least one of the radar signaland/or the laser signal emitted by the speed measurement equipment. 32.The vehicle camera of claim 22, further comprising a vehicle having avehicle communication element configured to communicate over thecommunication standard and a vehicle information system comprisingvehicle operation data, and wherein the vehicle camera receives thevehicle operation data over the communication standard and the vehiclecamera incorporates the vehicle operation data into the video file. 33.The vehicle camera of claim 32, wherein the vehicle operation datacomprises at least one of a vehicle diagnostic reading, a vehicle speed,a vehicle acceleration, a brake reading and/or a safety triggerindication.
 34. A system for use in a vehicle including a vehicle camerathat interfaces with an external device that is separate from thevehicle camera, the system comprising: the vehicle camera comprising: a)an imaging component, which captures at least one image and creates animage file, b) a memory component designed to electronically store theimage file, and c) a camera communication element configured tocommunicate over a short-range communication standard; and the externaldevice comprising: d) a user interface that receives inputs from a userand communicates information to the user, and e) an external devicecommunication element configured to communicate over the short-rangecommunication standard, wherein the external device communicationelement communicates with the camera communication element over theshort-range communication standard; and wherein the external deviceexchanges data with the vehicle camera, wherein a geographic location ofthe vehicle camera is compiled with the image file to create a locationidentified image file, and wherein the location identified image fileincludes a timestamp, wherein the system receives a prediction of analert level associated with the geographic location of the vehiclecamera, and wherein the user interface communicates the prediction tothe user, and wherein the prediction is generated based on an analysisof a plurality of data entries associated with the geographic locationof the vehicle camera.
 35. The vehicle camera of claim 34, wherein theexternal device receives the prediction from a remote server over awide-area communication standard.
 36. The vehicle camera of claim 34,wherein the vehicle camera receives the prediction from a remote serverover a wide-area communication standard and communicates the predictionto the external device over the short-range communication standard.